Description

John Cassin (1813-1869)
Plate 36, TheGround Cuckoo
From: Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1856
Chromolithograph
Paper dimensions: 10 “x 7
Framed dimensions: 16 x 17

With text below image:
The Ground Cuckoo includes any of about 15 species of birds constituting the subfamily Neomorphinae of the cuckoo family, noted for terrestrial habits. Of the 11 New World species, three, the striped cuckoo, the pheasant cuckoo, and the pavonine cuckoo, are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds. Other neotropical ground cuckoos include the lesser ground cuckoo, a species 10 inches long, widespread in Central America, two species known as roadrunners, and two or three species that are even larger (24 inches), found in Southeast Asia.