146 VERTEBRATES: BIRDS. 



head, high and much compressed ; tail feathers eight, and 

 the plumage black. 



The Black Parrot, C. rugirostris, Sw., of Florida to 

 Brazil, is about fifteen inches long, and the wing six 

 inches ; and the bill with faint transverse wrinkles on 

 the gently decurved culmen. 



The Ani, C. ani, Linn., of the Atlantic coast of South- 

 eastern North America and southward, is twelve inches 

 long, the wing over six inches, the bill smooth, and the 

 culmen abruptly decurved. 



The Genus Geococcyx has the bill longer than the head, 

 loral feathers stiff and bristly, and the tail feathers ten. 

 Birds of this genus live on the ground. 



The Paisano, Road Runner, or Chaparral Cock, G. call- 

 fornianus, Baird, of Texas to California, the only repre- 

 sentative in the United States, is twenty to twenty-three 

 inches long, and the wing six inches ; all the feathers of 

 the upper parts and wings of a dull metallic olivaceous- 

 green, broadly edged with white near the end ; under 

 parts whitish. The legs are very long, and it can run 

 faster than a fleet horse. It frequents the highways. 



The Genus Coccygus Cuckoos comprises birds which 

 have the bill shorter than the head, decurved, slender, and 

 attenuated towards the end ; loral feathers soft, tarsi 

 shorter than the toes, and the tail feathers ten. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, C. americanus, Bonap., of 

 the United States east of the Missouri plains, is twelve 

 inches long, the wing about six inches ; the upper parts 

 metallic greenish-olive, under parts white. The upper 

 mandible and tip of the lower are black ; the rest of the 

 lower mandible and edges of the upper, yellow. The 

 flight of this bird is silent, rapid, and horizontal. It is 

 shy, seeking the thickest foliage, where it sits by the hour 

 uttering its unpleasant notes, which may be represented 

 by cow cow eight or ten times repeated. It feeds on in- 



