| 释义 |
coucal|ˈkuːkəl|
[Fr. (F. Le Vaillant Hist. Nat. des Oiseaux d'Afrique (1806) V. 53), said to be from couc(ou cuckoo + al(ouette lark.]
A non-parasitic bird of the cuckoo family, belonging to the genus Centropus, which is found in Africa, southern Asia, and Australia, and includes the Indian crow-pheasant and the Australian swamp pheasant.
1815Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. IX. i. 54 Egyptian Coucal. 1821T. E. Bowdich tr. Ornithology of Cuvier 53 Coucals, Vaillant Centropus..Nail of the great toe long, straight, pointed. 1831H. M'Murtrie tr. Cuvier's Animal Kingd. I. 333 Centropus..or the Coucals, species of Africa and India, in which the thumb nail is long, straight and pointed, as in Larks. 1873Proc. Zool. Soc. 1872 XL. 603 A Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianus) from Australia..being the first example of this fine species received by the Society. 1883[see crow-pheasant s.v. crow n.1 11]. 1901A. J. Campbell Nests & Eggs of Austral. Birds II. 591 The Coucal is the only member of the Australian Cuculidæ that undertakes the responsibility of rearing its own family. 1935D. F. Thomson Birds of Cape York Peninsula 52 Pheasant-Coucal... The Coucal is well named, for its long tail lends an extremely pheasant-like appearance to the bird. 1966N. W. Cayley What Bird is That? (ed. 4) 271 Swamp Pheasant, Centropus phasianinus... Also called Coucal and Swamp Cuckoo. |