CUCULID^ — THE CUCKOOS. 475 



making a low cooing noise like that of a dove, for which it was at first mis- 

 taken. He afterwards heard it cooing harshly and chattering its mandibles 

 together, at the same time jerking up its tail and erecting its crest. 



Where not molested. Dr. Cooper states that they become quite tame, and 

 seem to have a preference for towns and houses. At Santa Barbara he 

 observed one young bird nearly fledged as early as May. 



Mr. A. J. Grayson had one of these birds in confinement, which became 

 quite tame, and readily fed upon any kind of raw meat, but joreferred lizards 

 and small birds, the latter of whicli it swallowed, feathers and all. If given 

 to him alive, he would play with them awhile before swallowing them, as a cat 

 does with a mouse. They are sometimes tamed, and kept about gardens to kill 

 mice and insects. Dr. Kennerly also states that when taken alive they soon 

 become quite tame, and willingly remain about a house, soon destroying all 

 the mice in the vicinity, which they catch with as much dexterity as a cat. 



Mr. Dresser found this bird abundant throughout the mesquite regions, and 

 more particularly so near the Rio Grande. He found its eggs near San An- 

 tonio in April and May, and received them even as late as the 23d of Septem- 

 ber. They build a clumsy nest of mesquite twigs, placed at some height 

 on a bough or in a hollow tree, and lay from two to four pure white eggs. 

 The stomachs examined by Mr. Dresser were found to contain small snakes, 

 lizards, and ticks. He had one in a semi-domesticated state at Matamoras, 

 which became very tame, and was so mischievous that he could not let it 

 remain in the house. It would steal and hide everything that it could carry 

 off, and was particularly fond of tearing up letters and upsetting the inkstand. 

 It was never caged or tied up, and would frequently pay the neighbors a 

 visit, always returning before evening. He fed it on raw meat and lizards. It 

 flew with great ease, and was very fond of perching on the house-top. Tliis 

 bird had a singular antipathy to a tame parrot, and whenever the latter was 

 let out of the cage, it would get into a rage, and either go to the house-top 

 or decamp to some of the neighbors. 



The eggs are white, of a rounded oval, equal at either end, and measure 

 1.60 by 1.22 inches. 



Genus COCCYGUS, Vieillot. 



Coccyzus, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816. (Type, Cuculus americanus, Linn.) 

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



Gen. Char. Head without crest ; feathers about base of bill soft ; bill nearly as long 

 as the head, deciirved, 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. 



