. Coloured illustrations of British birds, and their eggs . he American Cuckoo, includ-ing the two middle tail-feathers, are brown; but the texture of the feathers is so silky, that, according to the light in d 2 36 which the bird is viewed, reflections of either grey, green,or rufous are thrown upon the plumage, and it becomes inconsequence a difficult task to represent the bird correctly ina coloured print or drawing, or even accurately to describe head and back have a tinge of grey ; the wings andmiddle tail-feathers incline to an olive colour ; the rest ofthe tail-feather
. Coloured illustrations of British birds, and their eggs . he American Cuckoo, includ-ing the two middle tail-feathers, are brown; but the texture of the feathers is so silky, that, according to the light in d 2 36 which the bird is viewed, reflections of either grey, green,or rufous are thrown upon the plumage, and it becomes inconsequence a difficult task to represent the bird correctly ina coloured print or drawing, or even accurately to describe head and back have a tinge of grey ; the wings andmiddle tail-feathers incline to an olive colour ; the rest ofthe tail-feathers are black with a white tip, and the wholeof the under parts are white. The legs and feet are iris, golden yellow. The upper mandible of the beakis black, with a yellow edge near the gape; the under mandi-ble is ochre-yellow, with a black tip. The length of theAmerican Cuckoo is eleven inches and a half. The food of this bird consists chiefly of caterpillars andother insects, and their larvae. The egg figured 142 is that of the American WOOD PIGEON. 37 RASOBES. COLUMBIDJE. PLATE CXLIII. WOOD PIGEON. Columba PALUMBtJS. (Linn.) The Wood Pigeon, being the largest bird of its family,stands first in rank, and is a species generally well known :it is found very generally distributed over Europe and Asia,does not appear higher north than the Arctic Circle, but ex-tends beyond the southern boundaries of Europe, spreadingover the northern coast of Africa. In the northern parts ofEurope and Asia the Wood Pigeon is a migratory bird, andlarge flocks of them arrive from thence to this country in theautumn, most of which remain with us until milder weatheiinduces them to return to their native countries. The chosenlocality of the Wood Pigeon is, as its name indicates, awell wooded country, and by preference where fir trees abound,as they are particularly fond of the seed of the fir cones :acorns and beech nuts also form a considerable portion oftheir food ; and as soon as
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookidcoloured, booksubjectbirds
