SCANSORES : CUCULID.E. 



147 



sects, and upon Fig. 9S . 



eggs, which it 



steals from the 



nests of other 



birds. It builds 



its nest of dry 



sticks and grass, 



on a horizontal 



branch. The 



eggs are four 



or five, bright 



green. 



The Black- Yellow-tilled Cuckoo, C. americanns^ Bonap. 



billed Cuckoo, C. erythrophtlialmus, Bonap., of the same 

 region, and of about the same size and general appear- 

 ance and habits as the preceding one, may at once be 

 distinguished by its entirely black bill, and the naked 

 red skin around the eye. 



The Mangrove Cuckoo, C. minor, Cab., of Florida, is 

 readily distinguished from both the preceding by its ful- 

 vous under parts and dark ear coverts. 



PICID^E, OR WOODPECKER FAMILY. This Family com- 

 prises birds characterized by a straight, rigid, and sharp 

 bill, which is specially adapted to cutting into bark or 

 wood ; and by a long, acute tongue, armed towards the 

 tip with barbs, and capable of great extension. They 

 have stout feet, clothed before with broad plates, long 

 wings, ten primaries, and twelve tail feathers, the exterior 

 being small and concealed. Woodpeckers feed upon the 

 larvae of insects, which they secure by introducing their 

 extensible tongue under the bark of trees, or into crevices, 

 or into holes which they themselves have made, and then 

 transfixing the larvae with the barbed point ; or the larvae 

 adhere to the viscid glue with which the tongue is cov- 

 ered. They are very common in both hemispheres, and 

 about twenty-five species are found in North America. 



