COCCYZUS AMERICANUS. 37 



long in proportion, about 11 inches. The entire plumage, except the 

 breast and belly, which are grey, is chestnut colour. The beak is very 

 strong, and yellowish green in colour; the irides ruby-red, the eyelids 

 scarlet. 



In Colombia this Cuckoo is said to be called Pajaro ardilla (Squirrel- 

 bird), from its chestnut tint. It seems to feed chiefly, if not altogether, 

 on the ground, and when perched always appears awkward and ill-at- 

 ease. On a branch it sits motionless, until approached, and then 

 creeps away through the leaves and escapes on the opposite side of the 

 tree. This, however, is a habit common to most Cuckoos. Its 

 language is a loud screaming cry, on account of which the Brazilians 

 call it Alma do gato, implying that it possesses the soul of a cat. It 

 is a very shy retiring bird, and in this respect is more like a Coccyzus 

 than a Guira. 



For these facts we are indebted to Leotaud, Fraser, Forbes, White, 

 and others ; each of these observers having contributed a few words to 

 a history of this interesting bird's habits. 



271. COCCYZUS AMERICANUS (Linn.). 

 (YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.) 



Coccyzus ^mericanus, Set. et Salv. Nomencl p. 108 ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1872, 

 p. 496 '(Buenos Ayres) ; Withington, Ibis, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora). 



Description. Above grey ; ear-coverts blackish ; wings in interior rufous, 

 which shows more or less externally : beneath white, greyish on the throat ; 

 tail-feathers, except the two central which are like the back, black broadly 

 tipped with white ; bill with the lower mandible orange-yellow, except at the 

 tip : whole length 12-0 inches, wing 5 ! 7, tail 5-7. Female similar. 



Hab. North and Central America and Colombia; occasional in 

 Brazil and Argentina. 



This is a well-known inhabitant of the United States, where it is a 

 regular summer visitant, passing the winter months in Central America 

 and the West Indies, and being also occasionally met with during this 

 season in Brazil. In the Argentine Republic it is very rare, and the 

 few specimens found were all seen late in the autumn, after other 

 summer visitors had left. I can only account for the lateness of these 

 birds on the supposition that, being low fliers, excessively shy, and 

 eminently forest birds, they shrunk from traversing the wide open plains 

 which offer no kind of shelter or protection, and so remained in the 

 isolated plantations which rise like little islands of greenery in the sea- 

 like level of the pampas. 



