550 ZYGODACTYLI. 



This species is about 13 inches long; and 2l in alar dimensions. 

 The forehead and cheeks are orange-red ; the rest of the head and 

 neck of a rich yellow ; shoulder and bend of the wing edged with or- 

 ancre-red. Above bright yellowish glossy green, with bluish reflec- 

 tions, diluted with yellow below; interior webs of the primaries 

 dusky-purple, exterior ones bluish-green. Tail long and graduated, 

 the exterior feathers only half the length of the middle ones ; shafts 

 of all the quills black. Knees and vent orange. Feet a pale whitish 

 flesh-color; claws black. Bill white, slightly tinted with cream- 

 color. Iris hazel. In the young birds the head and neck is wholly 

 green, except the front and cheeks, which are orange, as in the adults. 

 — Though tough, like the Pigeon, the flesh of this Parrot is com- 

 monly eaten in the Southern States, but, from my own experience, I 

 cannot consider it as very palatable. The brains and intestines have 

 likewise been said to be a poison to cats, though apparently without 

 any foundation, according to the experiment of Wilson. 



COCCYZUS. (American Cuckoo.) 



The BILL rather robust, long, compressed the whole length, cari- ^ 

 nated, entire, with both mandibles gently curved from the base and 

 reflected at the points, the upper somewhat longer. Nostrils 



basal, lateral, oval, half closed by a naked membrane. Tongue I;.' 

 short, narrow, acute. Feet slender ; tarsus naked, robust^ longer 

 or only about the length of the longest toe, the 2 anterior toes united 



at the base ; nails short and but little curved. — JVings rather short ; jL 



spurious feather short, 3d and 4th primaries longest. Tail moderate 8 



or long, not emarginated, consisting of 10 feathers. ™ 



These birds inhabit the warmer parts of ^both continents, though i 



there are none in Europe ; two or three species inhabit the United r 



States durina: summer. They replace here the true Cuckoos of the 4 



to J r ^ ^ |^„ 



old continent, from which they scarcely at all differ except in habit. ■^'" 



They build, however , generally , a nest in tall thickets, trees, or hollow 

 trunks, and breed up their young. They usually reside in forests or 

 orchards, are shy, and fond of solitude, hiding and crouching beneath 

 the shady branches, and seldom if ever alight on the ground. They 

 feed on insects and berries, particularly on the hairy caterpillars re- 

 jected by other birds, in the digestion of which they are assisted by 

 disgorging at intervals the roughened skins ; they are also exceeding- 

 ly greedy of the eggs of other birds. They moult once a year, and 

 there is but little difference in plumage between the sexes, or be- 

 tween the old and the young ; the female is, however, somewhat larger. 



