CUCULID^E THE CUCKOOS. 893 



"The species of Coccyzus are readily distinguished from those of 

 Geococcyx by their arboreal habits, confining themselves mainly to 

 trees, instead of living habitually on the ground. The plumage is 

 soft, fine and compact. 



"The American Cuckoos differ from the European (Cuculus) by 

 having lengthened naked tarsi, instead of very short feathered ones. 

 The nostrils, too, are elongated instead of rounded. The habits of 

 the two are entirely different, the American species rearing their 

 young, instead of laying eggs in the nests of other birds, like the 

 European Cuckoo and the American Cowbird (Molothnis pecoris)." 

 (Hist. N. Am. B.) 



The two species of Coccyzus which are entitled to notice here 

 may be distinguished by the following characters : 



1. C. americanus. Tail feathers (except middle pair) black with broad white tips. 

 Inner webs of primaries mostly rufous. Mandible and bare orbits yellow. 



2. C. erythrophthalmus. Tail feathers grayish brown, with very narrow tips of dull 

 whitish. Inner webs of primaries rufous only in young. Mandible bluish (black- 

 ish in dried skins), bare orbits deep red in the adult (yellow in young). 



Coccyzus americanus (Linn.) 



YELLOW BILLED CUCKOO. 



Popular synonyms. Rain Crow; Wood Pigeon; Cow-cow. 



Cuculus americanus LINN S. N. ed. 12, i, 1766, 170. 



Coccyzus americanus BP. 182 r >. NUTT. Man. i. 1832, 551. AUD. Orn. Biog. i, 1832, 18; v. 

 1839. 520.pl. 2; Synop.lb39, 187; B.Am.iv, 1842, 293, pi. 275. -CouES, Key, 1872, 190; Check 

 List, 1874, No. 291; 2d ed. 1882, No. 429; B. N. W. 1874. 275. RIDGW. Nom. N. Am. B 

 1881, No. 387. 

 Coccyzus americanus CAB. 1856. BAIRD, B. N. Am. 1858, 76; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 69. 



B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. B. ii, 1874. 477, pi. 48, fig. 4. 

 Cuculus carolinensis WILS. Am. Orn. iv, 1811, 13, pi. 28. 



HAB. United States in general, especially the Eastern Province (irregularly distrib- 

 uted in the Western), north to British Provinces; in winter, south through Mexico and 

 Central America as far as Coste, Rica, and also many of the West India Islands. Acci- 

 dental in Europe. 



"Sp. CHAE. Upper mandible and tip of lower, black; rest of lower mandible and cut- 

 ting edges of the upper, yellow. Upper parts of a metallic greenish olive, slightly 

 tinged with ash towards the bill; beneath white. Tail feathers (except the median, 

 which are like the back) black, tipped with white for about an inch on the outer feathers, 

 the external one with the outer edge almost entirely white. Quills orange-cinnamon; 

 the terminal portion and a gloss on the outer webs olive; iris brown. Length. 12. Oft; 

 wing, 5.95; tail, 6.35." (Hist. N. Am. B.) 



There is considerable variation in the amount of rufous in the 

 quills ; sometimes this shows very distinctly externally, sometimes it 

 is entirely replaced by the bronzed olive of the back. A greater 

 amount of the rufous seems to characterize the more southern and 



