-- NELTJE BLANCHAN
I. BIRD FAMILIES
THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF EACH FAMILY
INCLUDED IN "BIRD NEIGHBORS'
Order Coccyges: CUCKOOS AND KINGFISHERS
Family Cuculidae: CUCKOOS
Long, pigeon-shaped birds, whose backs are grayish brown with a bronze lustre
and whose under parts are whitish. Bill long and curved. Tail long; raised and
drooped slowly while the bird is perching. Two toes point forward and two
backward. Call-note loud and like a tree-toad's rattle. Song lacking. Birds of
low trees and undergrowth, where they also nest; partial to neighborhood of
streams, or wherever the tent caterpillar is abundant. Habits rather solitary,
silent, and eccentric. Migratory.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Black-billed Cuckoo.
Family Alcedinidae: KINGFISHERS
Large, top-heavy birds of streams and ponds. Usually seen perching over the
water looking for fish. Head crested; upper parts slate-blue; underneath
white, and belted with blue or rusty. Bill large and heavy. Middle and outer
toes joined for half their length. Call-note loud and prolonged, like a
policeman's rattle. Solitary birds; little inclined to rove from a chosen
locality. Migratory.
Belted Kingfisher.
Order Pici: WOODPECKERS
Family Picidae: WOODPECKERS
Medium-sized and small birds, usually with plumage black and white, and always
with some red feathers about the head.
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