CUCULID.ZE.
Outer toe reversible ; primaries to ; tail usually TO feathers.
CucuLus.
No crest; nostrils round ; in flight resemble Sparrow Hawk ; insectivorous ; eggs placed in nests of other birds.
Cuculus canorus canorus L. CUCKOO. Fr. Coucou ; Ger. Kuckuck ; Ifal. Cuculo ; Swed. Gok.
adult. Upper parts, throat, and chest grey, abdomen white with dark bars. Bill dark horn, cutting edges and base below yellow. Legs and feet yellow. Iris yellow. Wing , 213-230, 9 200-220. Tarsus 20-22. Bill 16-18. 9 as in
but has also a hepatic phase, chestnut above, yellowish white beneath with black bars. Young : above brown barred rufous and with white tips to feathers ; white patch on nape ; beneath white or buff barred black.
Preedc.—British Isles ; Continental Europe from far north, south to Pyrenees, Sicily, Sardinia ; Asia linor, Caucasus, Urals, and W. Asia. Migrates ; occurs Canaries, Madeira,