File:An illustrated manual of British birds (1889) (14562096937).jpg

Identifier: illustratedmanua01saun (find matches)
Title: An illustrated manual of British birds
Year: 1889 (1880s)
Authors: Saunders, Howard, 1835-1907
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: London, Gurney and Jackson
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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Cuckoos in thesame nest the struggle for existence is sometimes severe. The foodconsists of insects and their larva;, especially hairy caterpillars ; theindigestible portions being thrown up in pellets. The female uttersa water-bubbling or whistling note. The superficial resemblance ofthe Cuckoo to a Hawk undoubtedly proves deceptive to otherbirds; also to ignorant peasants and gamekeepers, who frequentlyassert that Cuckoos turn to Hawks in winter. The adults of both sexes are greyish-ash above and on the throat,with small white spots on the darker grey tail, and dusky bars on thewhite under parts ; irides, legs and feet yellow. Length 12 in. ; wing8-5 in. The female sometimes shows a slight rufous tinge on thebreast. The young are clove-brown on the upper parts; there is awhite spot on the nape, and the irides are brown. Birds of bothsexes are sometimes found in spring of a rich chestnut-brown, like afemale Kestrel, and this form has been distinguished as C. hepatims. CUCULID.E. 279
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THE GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO. CoccvsTES (;landariu.s (Linnjeus). An example of this southern species was captured alive in afatigued and emaciated condition on the island of Omey (errone-ously printed Omagh), off the coast of Connemara, probably inMarch 1842. It was subsequently obtained for the Museum ofTrinity College, Dublin, where it still remains, although said to haveperished; and, on examining it a short time ago, I found that it wasin immature plumage. Another, shot near Bcllingham, Northumber-land, on August 5th 1870, is now in the Newcastle Museum. As a wanderer the Great Spotted Cuckoo has occurred in Nor-tht;rn Germany, Southern France, and Northern Italy, while in thesouth and in Sicily it is tolerably frequent on passage, though rarein Malta, and unrecorded from Sardinia or Corsica. In AndaluciaI found it had arrived by March 2nd, and it is common through-out the summer in the Spanish Peninsula as far north as thevicinity of Madrid, wherever there are woods suited to the hab

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