BIRDS CUCDLIDAE — COCCYGUS. 



75 



List of specimens. 



COCCYGUS, Vieillot. 



Coccyzus, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816. 



Erythrophrys, Swainson, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 322. 



Head without crest ; feathers about base of bill soft ; bill nearly as long as the head, decurved, slender, and attenuated 

 towards the end. Nostrils linear. Wings lengthened, reaching the middle of the tail ; the tertials short. Tail of ten graduated 

 feathers. Feet weak ; tarsi shorter than the middle toe. 



The species of Coccygus are readily distinguished from -those of Geococcyx by their arboreal 

 habits, confining themselves mainly to trees, instead of living habitually on the ground. The 

 plumage is soft, fine, and compact. 



The American cuckoos difi'er from the European cuckoos, (Cuculus,) by having lengthened 

 naked tarsi, instead of very short feathered ones. The nostrils are elongated, too, instead of 

 rounded. The habits of the two are entirely different, the American species rearing their own 

 young, instead of laying the eggs in the nests of other birds, like the European cuckoo and the 

 American cowbird {ilolothrus pecoris). 



