194 NEW-YORK FAUNA BIRDS. 



FAMILY CUCVLIDM. 



Bill long or moderate, slightly curved at the tip. Tongue short, simple, lacerated at the tip. 

 Feet short or moderate. Tarsus with broad scutellcz. Toes long and slender ; the fore 

 toes entirely cleft ; outer hind toe versatile. Tail cuneate or wedge-shaped, of from 8 to 

 10 feathers. 



GENUS COCCYZUS. Vieillot. 



Bill rather long, compressed, with a ridge, and slightly bent from the base. Nostrils basal, 

 oval, half covered by a naked membrane. Tarsus much longer than the middle toe. 

 Wings short, somewhat rounded : first quill short ; second, third and fourth longest. Tail 

 very long, cuneate or graduated, of ten feathers. 



THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 



COCCYZUS AMERICANUS. 

 PLATE XIV. FIG. 30. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Cnculus americanus. Linn^hs, Syst. Nat. p. 170. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 2G5. 



C. carolinensis. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 4, p. 13, pi 28, fig. 1. 



Coccyzus americanus, Vieillot. Bonapai:te, Ann. Lye. Vol. 2. p. 42. Audubon, folio pi. 2. Nut. Man. Orn. 



Vol. 1. p. 551. Kirtland, Zool. Ohio, p. 1G2. Peaeody, Mass. Rep. p. 332. Aud. 



B. of A. Vol. 4, p. 203, [.1. 275. 

 Erylhrophrys id. Bonapakte, Geog. and Comp. List, p. 40. 

 Coccyzus id. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 182. 



Characteristics. Greyish brown above ; beneath white. Lower mandible yellow. Inner 

 vanes of the quills yellow. Length, 12 inches. 



Description. Bill long, arched, acute. Second quill longest ; the first shorter than the 

 fourth. Nostrils linear, elliptical. Tail 5*3 long, graduated, 2'5 longer than the tips of 

 the closed wings : the two outer feathers scarcely half the length of the central pair. 



Color. With the exception of the first two quills, the others are reddish cinnamon on their 

 inner vanes. The lower mandible yellow, dusky at the tip. Two central feathers of the tail 

 similar in color to the back, but darker towards their tips ; the others dusky, tipped with 

 white. Irides hazel : eyelids yellowish or dusky. Female, larger ; the four central tail- 

 feathers unspotted. 



Length, 11 -5 -12-5. Alar spread, 15-5 -16-0. 



This is not a very common bird, but it is found during the summer in every part of this 

 State. It is a constant resident in the Southern Slates, and appears with us in the early part 



