137 



COCCYZUS AMERICANUS. THE YELLOW- 

 BILLED COWCOW. 



CAROLINA CUCKOO. COWBIRD. RAIN-CROW. 



Cuculus americaaus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 170. 



Cuculus americanus. Lath. Ind. Orn. I. 219. 



Cuculus carolinensis. Wils. Amer. Orn. IV. 13. 



Coccyzus americanus. Audub. Synops. 187. 



Coccyzus americanus. Carolina Cuckoo. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 155. 



Bill brownish-black above, yellow beneath ; plumage of the 

 upper parts light greenish-brown, the head tinged with grey, of 

 the lower parts silvery white ; tail-feathers, the middle excepted^ 

 brownish-black, tipped with white. 



Male. — This elegantly formed but plainly coloured bird has 

 occurred so seldom in Britain, that I am obliged to have re- 

 course to specimens from its native country, for its form and 

 plumage, and to the M^orks of Mr Audubon, for its habits. It 

 is considerably inferior in size to the Grey Cuckoo, and of a 

 more delicate form, having the body slender, the neck of mo- 

 derate length, the head rather small. The bill is slender, 

 considerably arched, and in all respects as described in the 

 generic character. The roof of the mouth is flat ; the upper 

 mandible very narrow toward the end, slightly concave, with 

 three longitudinal ridges, the lower deeply channelled. The 

 tongue is very slender, ten and a half twelfths long, horny in 

 the greater part of its length, with the edges lacerated, and the 

 tip rather acute. On the tarsi, which are short, and rather 

 stout, are seven very large scutella, which almost meet behind ; 

 the first toe has six, the second eight, the third twelve, the 

 fourth sixteen scutella ; the toes are small, and the claws 

 slender and somewhat bluntly pointed. The plumage is blended, 

 on the upper parts somewhat compact and glossy. The third 



