CUCKOOS 
Cuckoos form an order of birds which includes not only the widely dis¬ 
tributed cuckoos, road-runners and anis, but also the plantain-eaters of 
Africa. Many members of the order, especially cuckoos, are remarkable 
for their parasitic breeding habits. A mother cuckoo instead of building 
her own nest will select the nest of some other birds, deposit her eggs in 
it, and fly off relieved of the responsibility of parenthood. When her 
youngsters hatch, they will usually eject their foster brothers from the nest. 
Cuckoos’ eggs usually are colored in tints approximately that of the 
birds they parasitize. Thus, for example, the great-spotted cuckoo who lays 
its eggs in the nests of crows and ravens deposits eggs of a crow-like type. 
Many other instances of this variation in eggs can be cited. 
Exceptions to the foregoing are found in the habits of the great-spotted 
and crested cuckoos of the Old World. These birds, when hatched, live in 
harmony with their foster brothers. The ani, however, nests communally, 
two or more females working together to build a large nest. Once the 
communal nest is finished, the mothers lay their eggs and hatch them side 
by side. Anis are black-plumed cuckoos found in the American tropics. 
The reptile-eating road-runners of the southern United States, Mexico 
and northwest South America, the yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos 
common in North America, and the Old World coucals all differ from the 
typical members of the group in that they rear their own young. Road- 
runners, found throughout desert country where they live on lizards, snakes 
and young turtles, run with head lowered and tail horizontal. When they 
stop from time to time, their tail assumes an almost vertical position. 
Cuckoos: Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 
Road-runners: Road-runner. 
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