CUCULID^]. 31 



Fam. XXVII. CUCULID^E, OR CUCKOOS. 



The Cuckoos form an extensive and rather varied family of zygo- 

 dactyle birds with a somewhat wide distribution, being found in all 

 parts of the world except in the extreme north, where their insect-food 

 would not be abundantly mgi with. The true Cuculi, so remarkable 

 for their parasitic habits, are not found in the New World, but several 

 genera of arboreal Cuckoos (Coccyzus, Piaya, &c.), and others of 

 terrestrial habits (Crotophaga, Geococcyx, and Saurothera), are met 

 with, chiefly in the Neotropical Region, and number altogether some 

 thirty species. Of these, eight are known to occur within the confines 

 of the Argentine Republic. 



267. CROTOPHAGA ANI, Linn. 

 (BLACK ANI.) 



Crotophaga ani, Sol et Salv. Nomencl p. 107; White f P. Z. S. 1882, p. 619 

 (Salta). 



Description. Black, glossed with bronzy and purplish ; bill and feet black ; 

 bill with the culmen much elevated, compressed and cultrate : whole length 

 13-0 inches, wing 5-5, tail 7*0. Female similar. 



Hab. Veragua and South America down to Northern Argentina. 



This strange Cuckoo, with the plumage and some of the habits of a 

 Crow, is of a nearly uniform black, glossed with bronze, dark green, 

 and purple. Its most peculiar feature is the beak, which is greater in 

 depth than in length, and resembles an immense Roman nose, occu- 

 pying the whole face, and with the bridge bulging up above the top of 

 the head. The Ani is found only in the northern portion of the 

 Argentine territory. According to Azara it is very common in Para- 

 guay, and goes in flocks, associating with the Guira Cuckoo, which it 

 resembles in its manner of flight, in being gregarious, in feeding on the 

 ground, and in coming a great deal about houses ; in all which things 

 these two species differ widely from most Cuckoos. He also says that 

 it has a loud disagreeable voice, follows the cattle about in the pastures 

 like the Cow-bird, and builds a large nest of sticks lined with leaves, in 

 which as many as twenty or thirty eggs are frequently deposited, several 

 females laying together in one nest. His account of these strange and 

 disorderly breeding-habits has been confirmed by independent observers 

 in other parts of the continent. The eggs are oval and outwardly 

 white, being covered with a soft white cretaceous deposit ; but this can 

 be easily scraped off, and under it is found a smooth hard shell of a 

 clear beautiful blue colour. 



