118 i\Ir. G. C. Taylor on Birds collected 



lower branches of trees^ generally in dense and sliady thickets, 

 and are to be shot without difficulty. The Quesal [Pharomacrus 

 paradiseits) is, I believe, found in the lofty mountains to the 

 south and east of the plain of Comayagiui. 



After I left the country, Mr. Edwards returned to Comayagua. 

 He ascended these mountains, and found a tableland at the top, 

 covered with forests of high trees, and little or no underwood. 

 He there saw monkeys, and many species of birds which we 

 had not met with on the plain below. He also saw the long tail- 

 feathers of the Quesal lying on the ground ; he shov^ed them 

 to an Indian hunter who was with him, and was told by him 

 that he had often shot them. This I consider to be conclusive 

 evidence. 



The forests of Honduras are so extensive and dense, that it 

 requires a long residence to explore them satisfactorily, and there 

 is no saying positively what tropical birds may not be found 

 in them. 



37. Long-tailed Cuckoo. {Piaya thermo2jhila.) 

 Common. They frequent localities where the brushwood is 



thick and the trees are moderately high ; they are showy birds, 

 and easily skinned. 



38. Ground Cuckoo. {Piaya erythropygia.) 



The only bird of this species which I saw and shot was not 

 far from Yojoa. It was very tame, and walking beneath brush- 

 wood on some very stony ground. I could not get a fair di- 

 stance from it, so was obliged to shoot when too close. The 

 skin was consequently so damaged that it became spoiled by 

 the heat of the weather before I had a chance of preserving it. 



39. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. {Coccyzus americanus.) 



I shot a Cuckoo in Tigre Island closely resembling a speci- 

 men of this species obtained in Jamaica. 



40. Savannah Blackbird. {Crotophaga sulcirostris.) 

 Very common everywhere and very tame. To be seen in 



small companies, from five or six to a dozen, sitting on fences 

 and low bushes. Perhaps the most common bird in Hondui'as. 

 Its habits resemble those of C. ani, as described in Gosse^s 

 ' Birds of Jamaica.^ 



