THE CUCKOO. 
593 
anyone is really well acquainted with the bird except 
sportsmen, woodmen, shepherds, and peasants ; it is not 
even recognised when killed and lying dead in the hand : 
for this reason it will not be out of place to give a short 
description of the bird in question. 
The Cuckoo belongs to those birds which are furnished 
with reversible toes, that is to say, that the outer toe 
can be turned either backwards or forwards at will. The 
size of its body but little surpasses that of our Song 
Thrush, though the exceptionally long, broad tail, the 
great length of the wings, and thick plumage, give the 
bird a much larger appearance than it really possesses. 
The feathers of the back are gray; the tail is dark gray, 
with white edges and spots; the throat and upper part of 
the breast are also gray, while underneath it is marked 
like the Sparrowhawk, so much so, indeed, that anyone 
deficient in ornithological knowledge, and overlooking the 
feet and beak,—those distinguishing marks,—might 
easily take it for that bird. The construction of 
these two members, it is true, distinguish it from the 
Raptores, for both beak and feet are feeble, let alone that 
the outer toe is reversible.* The length of the Cuckoo 
ranges from thirteen to fourteen inches, of which the tail 
measures over seven; the spread from wing to wing is 
from five and twenty to six and twenty inches. The 
Cuckoo varies much both in size and colour; for instance, 
some specimens are marked all over with reddish brown, 
though not belonging to a separate species. 
The Cuckoo is an untameable, restless, and shy bird, a 
bad walker, but very strong and active on the wing. It 
* The reversible outer toe is not a character absent from all the Raptores ; it is 
equally possessed by the Whitetailed Eagle {Halia'etus albicilla ) and the Osprey 
(Pandion Halia'etus). — W. J. 
