CUCULID.E — NEOMORPHIN.E : GROUND CUCKOOS. 605 



extent 17.00; wing 5.50-6.00 ; tail 7.50-8.00, graduated 2 inches; tarsus, or middle toe and 

 claw, 1.50. Young dull sooty blackish. Tropical America; N. along the U. S. border, 

 locally or irregularly ; common in Texas in the lower Rio Grande valley, where it breeds. 

 Eggs said to be usually five, but indefinitely numerous and no peculiarity of nesting noted 

 in comparison with C. ani, both species being irregular ; nest of twigs, lined with fibrous 

 roots, leaves, etc., in a tree or bush; eggs averaging 1.25 X 0.95. 



Subfamily NEOMORPHiN/E : Ground Cuckoos. 



Syringes pseudobronchial ; myological formula and pterylosis as in Crotophagince. Tail 

 of ten feathers, graduated, longer than the short, rounded, concavo-convex wings, which hug 

 the body snugly when folded, and whose long inner secondaries reach nearly or quite to the 

 ends of the primaries ; upper tail-coverts also lengthened. Bill 

 not peculiar. Feet large and strong, in adaptation to terrestrial 

 habits, but hind claw not peculiar (as it is in Centropodince) . 

 This subfamily has a certain gallinaceous suggestiveness, the 

 birds being more or less pheasant-like in external appearance. 

 With the possible or probable exception of the genus Carpo- 

 coccyx of Borneo and Sumatra, brought to this connection by 

 some writers, the Neomorpliina: are exclusively American, and 

 especially Neotropical. Three genera belonging to this group 

 are Neomorphus, Geococajx, and Morococojx ; from these the 

 genera Diplopterus and Dromococcyx appear to difi"er little, in 

 externals at any rate ; though they have been put in a separate Fio. 4ir,. — Head of Geococcyx. 



subfiimily DiplopterintB, characterized by the greater elongation ^ ^^^ assm.) 

 of the ui)per tail-coverts, which reach to the end of the tail in Dromococcyx. Should the two 

 last- named genera prove to agree with the NeomorphincB proper in structural characters, and 

 should Carpococcyx be referable elsewhere, the present would become a compact and well- 

 characterized subfamily of American Ground Cuckoos. (Subfamily Saurotherince of former 

 editions of the Key ; but the uncertainty regarding the systematic position of the West Indian 

 Saurothera makes it ineligible as the name-giving genus. In the most important respects 

 Saurothera is said by Beddard to agree with Piaya, Coccyziis, etc., and tlius to belong to the 

 CuculincB. On external indications alone it is arranged by Shelley with Piaya, Hyetornis, 

 etc., under a subfamily Pha^nicophaince. As the name-giving genus of the present sul)family 

 Neomorphus Gloger, 1827, antedates Geococcyx Wagler, 1831. See Coues, Auk, Jan. 

 1897, p. 90; A. 0. U. Suppl. List, Auk, Jan. 1899, p. 110.) 



GEOCOCCYX. (Gr. yrj, gc, the ground; kokkv^, kokkux, a cuckoo. Ground Cuckoos. 

 Head crested; most feathers of head and neck bristle-tipped; eyelids lashed; whole plumage 

 coarse. A bare colored space around eye. Bill about as long as head, nearly straiglit, but 

 witli culuicn and cdimnissiire mucli decurved toward end, gonys if anything a little concave, 

 and rictus ample. Wings very slu>rt and concavo-convex, with long inner secondaries folding 

 entirely over jirimaries; 4th, 5th, and succeeding primaries longer than 8d, 2d, and 1st, which 

 rapidly shorten. Tail of 10 long tapering feathers, mucli graduated, making more than J total 

 length of the bird. Feet large and strong, in adaptation to terrestrial life; tarsus longer th.an 

 toes, scutellate before and behind. Plumage lustrous and variegated above. Sexes substan- 

 tially alike. Eminently terrestrial ; nest in bushes ; eggs numerous. Two specie's : G. ajjinis 

 of Mexico, and the following. 



G. califuriiia'iius. (r)f California. Figs. 4 HI, 417.) Ground Cuckoo. Chaparral 

 Cock. Ivoad Kinnkr. Snake Killer. Lizard 1*.ii;d. Churca. Palsano. Cokre- 

 CAMiNn. Most feathers of head and necl< Itristle-tipiied ; a nalci'd area around- eye; crown 



