CROTOPHAGA. 543 
Subfam. CROTOPHAGINZ. 
The Crotophagine form a most distinct subfamily of Cuckoos, and differ from all 
others in its members having only eight rectrices in the tail. Two genera are known— 
the widely spread Crotophaga with three species, and Gutra, which is confined to Brazil 
and Paraguay. The eggs of the members of both genera are peculiarly covered with a 
cretaceous coating, evenly overspread in the case of Crotophaga, but in mottled lines in 
Guira, between which the blue ground-colour is shown. 
CROTOPHAGA. 
Crotophaga, Linneus, Syst. Nat. i. 154 (1766); Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 427, 
Crotophaga differs widely from most of the other genera of Cuckoos. Its members 
have only eight rectrices, a feature shared by the South-American Guira, from which 
Crotophaga differs in the colour of the plumage and in the shape of the bill. 
The latter is much compressed with a high arched culmen, the sides of the maxilla 
are either smooth or furrowed, the lores and orbital region nearly naked, with a few 
scattered bristle-like feathers; the tarsi are moderately long, about equalling the 
middle toe; the wings are moderately long, the primaries considerably exceeding the 
secondaries; the tail is long and rounded, the feathers straight and moderately stiff; 
the plumage is black with steel-blue or greenish lustre, and with the feathers of the 
anterior portion of the body and head edged so as to give a scale-like appearance. 
The nesting-habits of Crotophaga are peculiar in that several birds seem to use a 
common nest in which to lay their eggs. The food consists largely of ticks, which the 
birds pick from the skins of cattle, in whose society they are usually found. 
Three species of the genus are known: one, C. ani, is common all through the 
West-Indian Islands, in Florida, and many parts of South America, and also occurs in 
some widely separated districts in Central America. C. sulcirostris is the best known 
and commonest species in Mexico and Central America, and is found everywhere from 
the Rio Grande Valley southwards; in South America it occurs in countries bordering 
the Pacific Ocean as far south as Peru. C. major, the third species, is a common South- 
American bird found along our southern border. 
1. Crotophaga major. 
Crotophaga major, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 863+; Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1860, p. 188°; Scl. & Salv. 
P. Z. 8. 1879, p. 586°; Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 428 *. 
Nitenti-chalybeo-nigra, capitis, cervicis, dorsi, scapularium, tectricum alarum et pectoris plumis eneo-viridi 
inconspicue marginatis ; cauda purpurascenti; rostro et pedibus nigris, rostri culmine acuto medialiter 
abrupte elevato, lateribus glabris. Long. tota 19-0, ale 7:5, caude rectr. med. 10-0, rectr. lat. 7°7, rostri 
a rictu 1:8, tarsi 1-7. (Descr. maris ex Nichi, Colombia. Mus. nostr.) 
Q mari similis. 
