CUCULID^ — THE CUCKOOS. 



477 



B. Tail-feathers all grayish-brown, with narrow terminal, obscure spots of 



white. 



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



C. erythrophthalmus. No rufous on primaries, except in young (which 

 have black bill, brown tail-feathers, etc.). Beneath continuous white, 

 with a faint ashy-buff shade across the jugulum ; above grayish-brown. 

 Bare eyelids bright red in the adult. Length, 11.30; wing, 5.12 ; tail, 

 6.24 ; tarsus, .90 ; culmen, 1.00. Hah. Eastern Province of the United 

 States, south through eastern Middle America to Bogota. 



Coccygus americanus, Bonap. 



YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 



Cuculus americanus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 170, 10. Coccyzus americanus, Bon. Obs. 

 Wilson, 1825, No. 47. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, IV. — Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 18, 

 V ; 520, pi. ii. — Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 293, pi. cclxxv. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 

 1858, 76. —Sol. Cat. 1862, 322. —Cooper, Pr. Cal. Ac. 1868 (Sacramento, Cal.) — 

 Samuels, 83. —Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 371. ErytliropJirys americamts, Sw. Birds 

 II, 1837. — Bon. List, 1838. Cureics americanus, Bon. List, Eur. Birds, 1842. 

 ? Cuculus dominicensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 170, 13. i Cuculus dominicus, 

 Latham, Syst. I, 1790, 221 (considered distinct by Bonaparte). Coccygus dominicus, 

 Baird, pi. Cuculus carolbmisis (Brisson), Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 13, pi. 

 xxviii. Cuculus cinerosus, Temminck, Man. IV, 1835, 277. Coccyzios pyrrhopterus, 

 ViEiLL. Diet. Coccygus bairdi, Sclater, P. Z. S. March, 1864, 120 (Jamaica; no 

 rufous externally on wing). ? Coccygus julieni, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lye. VIII, June, 

 1864, 42, 99 (Sombrero Island ; no rufous on wing). 



Sp. Char. Upper mandible and tip of lower, black ; rest of lower mandible and 

 cutting edges of the upper, yellow. 

 Upper parts of a metallic greenish- 

 olive, slightly tinged with ash towards 

 the bill; beneath white. Tail-feathers 

 (except the median, which are like 

 the back) black, tipped with white 

 for about an inch on the outer feathers, 

 the external one with the outer edge 

 almost entirely white. Quills orange- 

 cinnamon; the terminal portion and 

 a gloss on the outer webs olive ; iris 

 brown. Length, 12.00 ; wing, 5.95 ; 

 tail, 6.35. 



Hab. Eastern United States to the 

 Missouri plains. California and Ne- 

 vada (Ridgway) ; Mazatlan; Jamaica; 

 Porto Rico. Localities : ? Sta. Cruz (Newton, Ibis, I, 149, eggs !) ; Cuba (Cab. J. IV, 

 154 ; Gundl. Rep. I, 1866, 295) ; Jamaica (Gosse, B. Jam. 279 ?) Costa Rica (Cab. 

 J. 1862, 167) ; Lower Rio Grande (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 466, breeds). 



There is considerable variation in the amount of rufons in the quills ; 

 sometimes this shows very distinctly externally, sometimes it is entirely 

 replaced by the bronzed olive of the back. A greater amount of the rufous 



Coccygus americanus. 



