﻿BIRDS FROM \Y I M [NDIES 205 



Family CUCULID^E 



29. COCCYZUS MINOR NESIOTES (Cabanis and Heine) 



C[occygus] nesiotes Cabanis and Heine, Mus. Heineanum, part iv, heft 

 1. 1862-63, 78, foot-note (Greater Antilles, in summer wandering to 

 Florida). 

 Three males and two females, Barbuda; two males and seven 

 females. Antigua. 



In identifying this series I have "one over all the specimens from 

 the West Indies in the collection of the I'. S. National Museum and 

 am prepared to recognize three forms as was done by Shelley in Cat. 

 Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. xix. 1891, but with quite different limitations. 

 The three forms I am prepared to recognize are as follows : 



1. Coccyzus minor maynardi Ridgway 



From the Bahamas and southern Florida. 

 Characterized by its pale coloration. 



2. Coccysus minor nesiotes (Cabanis and Heine) 

 From Haiti. Jamaica, Grand Cayman. Mona, Porto Rico. Vieques, 

 St. Thomas, Antigua, and Barbuda, West Indies, and Swan island, 

 off coast of Honduras. This race is much paler on the throat and 

 has the underparts paler than a specimen of Coccyzus minor from 

 Colombia (the type locality of minor is Cayenne), the only specimen 

 from South America available for comparison. Our specimens from 

 Haiti, Grand Cayman, and Mona average paler than the rest of the 

 series, but in the case of the Mona specimens I think this is due to 

 the season (late summer) in which they were collected. The two 

 specimens from Haiti approach C. m. maynardi but are more butty 

 on the cheeks and are referred provisionally to this form. C. m. 

 nesiotes has a smaller and weaker bill than the next. 



3. Coccyzus minor shelleyi 110111. nov. 



Shelley described this form as Coccyzus dominicce (Cat. Bds. Brit. 

 Mus., xix, 1891, 306) from Dominica, but unfortunately Linnaeus 

 named the resident West Indian form of Coccyzus amerieanus. 

 Cuculus dominicus (Sys. Nat. 1766, 170), which makes it necessary 

 to rename this form. I have accordingly given it the name of the 

 describer. 



The present form has a larger, thicker bill than C. minor or C. 

 m. nesiotes. It is also darker than the latter. The U. S. National 

 Museum collection contains specimens of this form from Guadeloupe, 



