Friedmann, Herbert

The genus Chrysococcyx is one of a number of genera of cuckoos that are brood parasites in their reproductive habits. Their phylogeny, differentiation, dispersal, and ethology -- all of which are reviewed in a comparative, yet detailed, way for the first time in this paper -- are of interest in themselves not only as a special "case history" in the development of parasitism, but also for the light they throw on the broad, general problems of evolution of parasitic reproduction in the cuckoos as a family and in birds in general.

The honey-guides are a small family of picarian birds related to the barbets, the woodpeckers, and the toucans. The family contains eleven species classified in four genera. All but two of these species are found only in African south of the Sahara -- the two exceptions are Asiatic in dstribution, one in the Himalayas, and one in Burma, Siam, Malay, Sumatra, and Borneo.