CUCULIDJE. CLVII. 265 



ORDER XLIII. COCCYGES. (THE CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS.) 



This order includes the majority of the Picarian birds, some 15 

 families, not having very much in common, except that they lack 

 the special peculiarities of the Pici and the Macrochires. " The 

 sternum is usually notched behind ; the syringeal muscles are two 

 pairs at most." Feet generally short, the toes variously arranged. 

 Palate desmognathous. The group is " a mixed lot requiring to 

 be reconstructed by exclusion of some of the families entering into 

 its composition." (Coues). (KOKU, cuckoo.) 



Families of Coccyges. 



a. Toes 2 in front, 2 behind; bill as long as head, compressed, the toraia en- 

 tire; nostrils exposed; no rictal bristles; toes cleft to base. 



CUCULID^E, 157. 



aa. Toes 3 in front, 1 behind; bill straight, longer than head; feet syndactyle, 

 the outer and middle toes grown together for half their length; tarsus 

 very short ALCEDINID.E, 158. 



FAMILY CLVII. CUCULID^E. (THE CUCKOOS.) 



Bill compressed, lengthened, without rictal bristles or nasal 

 tufts. Tongue not extensible. Tarsus long, nearly naked ; toes 

 not webbed. Feet zygodactyle, by reversion of fourth toe. Spe- 

 cies about 200, in various parts of the world. (Lat., cuculus, 

 cuckoo.) 

 a. Tail feathers 10; bill gently curved; plumage blended; arboreal. 



COCCYZUS, 439. 

 439. COCCYZUS Vieillot. 



839. C. americanus (L.). YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. " RAIN 

 CROW." Color lustrous drab; bill yellow below; wings with much 

 cinnamon red ; middle tail feathers like the back ; outer ones black, 

 with broad white tips. L. 12. W. 5. T. 6. N. Am. 



840. C. erythrophthalmus (Wilson). BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 

 Lustrous drab ; bill chiefly black ; wings with little or no reddish ; 

 tail feathers all brownish, obscurely whitish at tips. L. ll|-. W. 

 5. T. 6^. E. 1ST. Am., more common E. (cpvOpos, red; o(/>#aA^oV, 

 eye.) 



FAMILY CLVIII. ALCEDINID^E. (THE KINGFISHERS.) 



Head large ; bill long, straight and strong, usually longer than 

 head ; gape deep, tomia not serrate. Wings long ; tail short. 

 Legs quite small ; feet syndactyle, the outer and middle toes 

 united half their length, with a continuous sole beneath; tibia naked 

 below. Tail feathers 12. Species about 100, chiefly of the tropical 

 parts of the Old World and Australia. Many of them feed upon 

 fishes, and nearly all are remarkable for their brilliant metallic 



