Genus CUCULUS, Linn.

ni .

GEN. es Bill rather compressed, shghtly curved, of mean length; gape wide; lower
mandible ae the curve of the upper. Nos¢rils basal, round, margined by a naked
and prominent membrane. Wings of mean length, acuminate; the first (oleate, a
the third the longest. Taz more or less wedge-shaped. Tarsi very short, feathered a little
below the knee. Feet with two toes before, and two behind, the outer hind toe partly

reversible ; the anterior toe joined at the base, the posterior ones entirely divided.

COMMON CUCKOO.
Cuculus canorus, Linn.

Le Coucou eris. ;
oO
Iy stating that the Cuckoo is a migratory bird, we add nothing to what is already well known; it is in fact
the most celebrated harbinger of returning vivification, and its familiar call is always hailed with pleasure
as the token of returning spring and the fresh awakening of Nature from her winter's sleep.

As is the case with most of our summer visitants, the food of the Cuckoo consists principally of insects,
especially of caterpillars, larvae, &c., a proof that its winter sojourn is in climates where this kind of diet is
ever to be obtained ; hence Africa, a place of winter residence for so many of our migratory birds, affords to
this species, among the rest, a welcome retreat. Its range extends over nearly all parts of Europe, and a
great portion of Africa and Asia; specimens received from the Himalaya mountains and other parts of India,
being strictly similar to those taken in our own island. The Cuckoo does not construct a nest for the reception
of its eggs, but deposits them in those of other birds of a much smaller size and of insectivorous appetites: the
species most commonly chosen as the foster parents of its offspring are the Titlark, Hedge Sparrow, &c.
In the nest of these birds it deposits a single egg ; but whether it lays only one or more, is a point at present
not ascertained, but it is most probable that it lays several, and deposits them in as many different nests.
Shortly after the young Cuckoo is excluded from the shell, with the offspring of its foster parent, it attains to so
much strength as to be able to eject them from the nest, itself remaining the sole occupant; and in fact, from
its large size and ravenous appetite, it is as much as these substituted parents can do to supply it with food.
Mr. J. E. Gray, of the British Museum, from observations made by himself, asserts that the Cuckoo does not
uniformly desert her offspring to the extent that has been supposed, but, on the contrary, that she continues
in the precincts where the eggs are deposited, and in all probability takes the young under her protection
when they are sufficiently fledged to leave the nest. They retire in August, at least the adults, which in their
migration always precede-the young. ‘The birds of the year quit this country in September.

The sexes may at all times be distinguished by the male being the largest and most robust, and by having
the whole of The neck and chest of a fine grey, while the female bas the sides of the chest obscurely rayed
with markings of brown.

On dissecting this bird in the early months of spring, we cannot fail to observe a great dilatation of the
throat, the membrane covering which internally is of a fine rich orange: the cause of this we have not been
able to determine satisfactorily ; it may be connected with the organs of voice. The circumstance of the
stomach of the Cuckoo containing a lining of numerous hairs, was for a long period a matter of great curiosity
to naturalists’; but these are now considered to be a deposition of the hairs from the larger caterpillars upon
which it feeds, and which it swallows whole.

The young birds differ much from the adults, having at first the upper surface of deep brown margined
and spotted with reddish brown, the feathers on the forehead margined with white, and a patch of the same
colour at the back of the head, the throat and under surface yellowish white transversely barred with black:
the irides brown, and the legs pale yellow. Young females are more reddish brown, and have only a faint
‘ndication of the white patch at the back of the head.

The adults have the head, neck, breast, and upper surf .
, and under tail-coverts white transversely barred with black ; the inner webs

nce bluish grey, which is deepest on the wing-

coverts ; the under surface, thighs : ih a des |
ill-fe 1 ‘al white spots; the tail black w small oblong white spots along the

of the quill-feathers marked with oval white spots ; the tail black with sma g | & the

shafts, and the tips white; the bill blackish brown at the tip and yellowish at the base; the gape and eye-

Snaits, ¢ : : | .

the irides gamboge yellow, and the legs and feet lemon yellow.

lids rich orange 5 whee ee : —
1 in its first autumn, of the natural size.

We have figured an adult, and the young bir