ANIS. 



383 



taincd more than three ecrirs, allhonijh I nllowcil incuhation to begin before taking the 

 eggs, as I exjiected the birds to hiy mure. Nearly every nest I found after the middle 

 of May contained four or five eggs ; and I account for tlic greater number laid later in 

 tlie season by the fact tliat insect food during llie dry season, whieh includes April and 

 May, is coniiiaratlvely scarce. Only occasionally have I fouiul eggs in different stages 

 of incubation, and I do not believe that there was over a week's difference in the time 

 of laying of the eggs in any nests T found. The food of this sjiecies consists chiefly of 

 insects, particularly grasshoi)pcrs, but embraces occasionally a lizard or a field mouse. 

 I do not believe they kill and eat rattlesnakes, as has been sometimes reported." 



i-"^._^Vv»^rv 





^\ 









Fig. 185. — Crolopliaga ani, smooth-billed aul. 



Finally, we have to mention the small American family conii)rising the two genera 

 Guira and Crotopha</a, characterized by having only eight tail-feathers, coincident 

 with a true bronchial syrinx. 



Three species compose the latter genus, two of which belong to the North Ameri- 

 can fauna, as occasional visitors to the southern parts, the smooth-billed ani {C. ani) 

 to southern Florida, the groove-billed ani {C. xnh-irostrh) to the valley of the Kio 

 Grande, Texas. Both species are black, with steel blue reflections above, but distin- 

 guished by the characters of the bill, as indicated by the names. 



We have on a previous j.age related the v.agaries of the Old "World cuckoos in 

 depositing their eggs in other birds' nests. Tlic breeding habits of the ani.s, however, 

 are very different, but not less remarkable or alterrant. Unfortunately, no recent 

 author has had the opportunity of studying the process to such an extent as to fur- 



