476 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The American Cuckoos differ from the European {Cuculus) by having 

 lengthened naked tarsi, instead of very short feathered ones. The nostrils, 

 too, are elongated instead of rounded. The habits of the two are entirely 



Coccygus americanus. 



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 (Molothrus j^ecoris). 



The following synopsis will serve to distinguish the North American spe- 

 cies of Coccygus, with their more nearly related southern allies, all of them 

 being of a light greenish color above, tinged with ashy towards the head : — 



Species and Varieties. 



A. Tail-feathers except two middle ones black, with broad, sharply defined 

 terminal spaces of white. 



a. Lower mandible yellow. 



C. americanus. Beneath pure white, with an ashy shade across the 

 jugulam. Inner webs of primaries mostly rufous. Auriculars nearly 

 concolor with the nape. Length, 12.00 ; wing, 5.45 ; tail, 5.64 ; cul- 

 men, 1.00 ; tarsus, .90. Hab. United States (very rare in the West- 

 ern Province), Jamaica, Porto Rico. 



2. C. minor. Beneath oehraceous, generally paler anteriorly. Inner 

 webs of primaries without any rufous. Auriculars blackish, con- 

 spicuously different from the nape. Length, 12.00 ; wing, 5.30 ; tail, 

 7.50; graduation of tail, 2.75. Tail-spots about 1.00 long. Hab. 

 West Indies, .and Northern and Eastern South America, Southern 

 Florida. 



b. Lower mandible blackish like the upper (pale blue in life). 



3. C. melanocoryphus.^ Colors similar to those of C- minor, but 

 upper parts more brown. Wing, 4.50 ; tail, 5.85 ; graduation of the 

 tail, 2.00. Tail-spots about .50 long. Hab. South America (Buenos 

 Ayres, Peru, La Plata, Cayenne, etc.). 



1 Coccygus melanocoryphus, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. VIII, 271. — Sclateu, Catal. 1862, 323. 

 — Ib. p. Z. S. 1864, 122. 



