CUCKOO. ktikUU (Fr. C011CO21. Lat. cueulus, Gk. KoKKV., kokkyr. cuckoo. Skt. kaila, cuckoo). A name given to many birds of the picarian family Cumilidar, which contains about 175 spe cies, mostly confined to the warmer regions of the globe, although some of them are slimmer visitors to cool climates. Only 35 of the known species live in the New World. The beak is slightly compressed and somewhat arched: the tail long, rounded. and usually of ten feathers; the wings rather long: the tarsi short. with two toes directed forward and two backward, the outer hind toe capable of being brought half round to the front. The feet are thus adapted for grasping and moving about upon branches rather than for climbing.
Cuckoos of the Ohl Worki.—The name cuckoo is derived from the note of the male of the com mon European cuckoo (Cuculus canon's). which, although monotonous, is always heard with pleasure, being associated with all that is de lightful in returning spring. A similar name is given to the bird in many languages. This common cuckoo is very widely diffused, as it is also found in India. Africa. and, in summer, even in Lapland and Kamchatka. It appears in Great. Britain in April, and all except the young birds are believed to migrate southward again before the middle of August. The adult cuckoo is about a foot in lemrth: ashy-gray. barred be neath with black; the wings are black, and the tail is black. marked with white. It frequents both cultivated districts and moors. There is no pairing or continued attachment of the male and female; and the female. after having laid an egg on the ground. takes it ir her mouth and deposits it. by means of her beak, in the nest of some other smaller bird, leaving the egg to be batched and the young one to be fed by the proper owners of the nest. This egg is very small for so large a bird, not larger than a sky lark's; and the number laid is uncertain. The yonng one, soon after hatching, acquires size and strength enough to eject from the nest any eggs or yomig birds—the true offspring of its foster-parents—which may remain in it. and it seems restless and uneasy till this is accom plished. It works itself under them, and then jerks them out by a motion of its rump. Other
species of cuckoo. closely allied to the European cuckoo, inhabit Africa, Asia, and Australia, and have essentially the same habits, one, about the Mediterranean, victimizing pies alone, its eggs having a remarkable resemblance to those of the magpie. Equally parasitic are many Old-World tropical species of various other genera; yet some of them (see do not shirk parental responsibility, but incubate and rear their own offspring. This extraordinary practice of bird parasitism, in respect to its facts and probable origin and development, is thoroughly discussed by A. Newton, Dictionary of Birds, article "Cuckoo" (London, 1596).
The American cuckoos represent three differ ent subfamilies—the anis, the road-runners, and the tree-cuckoos. The last compose the group Coccyzinfe. and are characteristic of and con fined to America. The best-known species are the black-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus erythrophthal mus) and the yellow-billed (Coccyzus Ameri calms). Both species occur commonly in sum mer throughout the United States and eastern Canada, but pass the winter in Central and South America. The black-billed cuckoo does not occur west of the Rocky Mountains. The two species are of about the same size, a foot long, and are olive-brown above, white beneath, but are easily distinguished by the color of the bill and the amount of white on the tail.
Unlike the Old-World cuckoos, they are not parasites. but build their own nests and incu bate their own eggs. The nests are flimsy struc tures of twigs. the eggs large and pale blue. In enbatior begins when the first egg is laid, so that no two of the eggs or young are in just the same stage of development. The American cuckoos are insectivorous and are very useful birds. Their note or call is a series of accelerat ed 'chucks,' not exactly harsh, but far from musical. in the Middle, Western, and Southern the yellow-bill is known as 'rain-crow,' because its note is supposed to predict rain— an idea prevalent in regard to these 'birds in other parts of the world. Consult Real, Food of Cuckoos (Department of Agriculture, Washing ton. 189S). See Plate of CUCKOOS: and Col ored Plate of EGGS OF SONG-BIRDS.