FAMILY CUCULIDAE 121 



usually kept depressed they may be elevated in a distinct crest. 

 In my somewhat limited experience with them I have found them 

 in thickets or low tree growth, usually near streams or marshy areas. 

 In the Canal Zone they are known along the Chagres from Tabernilla 

 to Gatun. All other records are from the Pacific side in the eastern 

 Provinces of Panama and Darien. They are not common, and appear 

 to be local in range. 



In the thickets and other low growth that they inhabit they move 

 about slowly, often remaining quiet. Because of this it is certain 

 that frequently they are overlooked. Goldman in 1912 secured 3 

 near Cana on Cerro Pirre, at elevations of 600 to 750 meters. 

 Festa (Bol. Mus. Zool. Anat. Comp. Univ. Torino, vol. 14, 1899, 

 p. 8) collected one at Laguna de Pita, Darien, in August 1895. 

 In 1964, I secured 2 in brush in a marshy area near the Rio Pirre 

 back of El Real. 



In the Pacora area they were called come-azrispa, wasp-eaters — 

 which was borne out by finely ground remains of hymenoptera in 

 the stomach of 1 taken there. Others that I have examined had 

 eaten caterpillars as well as other insects. In a specimen at El Real 

 I found 2 caterpillars an inch and a half long, that were bright yel- 

 low with light blue heads. 



In a male examined at La Jagua the oil gland was very small, 

 with the nipple bare as usual in cuckoos. 



Hellebrekers (Zool. Med. Ryksm., Nat. Hist. Leiden, vol. 24, 1942, 

 p. 251) has described two sets of 2 eggs, and 1 single, of the typical 

 form Piaya minnta minuta in the Penard collection from Surinam 

 as white, without gloss, and of spherical form. Measurements given 

 range from 23.5-25.5x18.9-20.1 mm. This race is similar in size 

 to the one found in Panama. 



The subspecies of the Isthmus extends into northwestern Colombia 

 along the lower Rio Atrato, as indicated by specimens in the U. S. 

 National Museum from Unguia, Choco, and Villa Artiaga, Antioquia. 

 The species ranges in South America from Colombia and Venezuela 

 to eastern Bolivia and central Brazil. 



CROTOPHAGA MAJOR Gmelin: Greater Ani, Cocinera 



Figure 15 

 Crotophaga major Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 1, 1788, p. 363. (Cayenne.) 



A large, slender, long-tailed, black bird, with arched bill and light 

 eyes. 



Description. — Length 420-465 mm. Bill compressed and narrowly 



