COCCYZUS. 273 



Wing less than 6.00, tail less than 11.00; throat and chest plain buff or buffy 

 whitish ; above metallic bronzy brown, becoming blue-black anteriorly, 

 each feather broadly edged with whitish ; beneath buffy whitish or buff, 

 including throat, fore-neck, and chest, the sides of the latter streaked with 

 black ; two middle tail-feathers bronzy brown, the rest metallic greenish, 

 broadly tipped with white ; wing about 5.50, tail about 10.30. Hab. Guate- 

 mala and southern Mexico, north to Yucatan, Vera Cruz, and Mazatlan. 



G. affinis HARTL. Mexican Road-runner. 1 



GENUS COCCYZUS YIEILLOT. (Page 272, pi. LXXX., fig. 1.) 



Species. 



COMMON CHARACTERS. Above plain brownish gray or grayish brown, with 

 more or less of a faint bronzy lustre, the color usually becoming more grayish on 

 head, on side of which (over ear-coverts) is a darker stripe ; lower parts plain 

 whitish, buffy, or ochraceous ; tail-feathers (except middle pair) more or less dis- 

 tinctly tipped with whitish. Nest a slight flat structure of sticks, etc., usually on 

 small trees or lower branches of larger trees. 



* 



a 1 . Basal half, or more, of lower mandible yellow ; adult with tail-feathers (except 

 middle pair) black, broadly and abruptly tipped with white ; young with tail- 

 feathers grayish dusky, broadly, but not sharply, tipped with dull white. 

 ft 1 . Inner webs of quills chiefly rufous, the outer webs more or less tinged with 

 same toward base ; lower parts white tinged with pale ashy on fore-neck, 

 chest, and thighs. 



c 1 . Smaller, with proportionally smaller and weaker bill; length 11.00- 

 12.70, wing 5.40-5.80 (5.61), tail 6.00-6.15 (6.07), exposed culmen 

 .97-1.01 (.99), depth of bill at base .32-.S4 (.33). Eggs 2-4, 1.21 X 

 .88, dull pale glaucous-green or glaucous-white. Hab. Eastern 

 North America, north to New Brunswick, Canada, etc.. west to 

 edge of Great Plains, south, in winter, to West Indies, eastern 

 Mexico, and Costa Rica. 



387. C. americanus (LINN.). Yellow- billed Cuckoo. 



c 2 . Larger, with proportionally larger and stouter bill ; length 12.30-13.50, 

 wing 5.50-6.00 (5.84). tail 6.10-6.90 (6.59), culmen 1.02-1.08 (1.05), 

 depth of bill through base .37-.40 (.39). Hab. Western United States, 

 north to Oregon, east to New Mexico and Colorado, south over table- 

 lands of Mexico . C. americanus occidentalis RIDGW. 



California!! Cuckoo. 2 

 6 2 . Quills without rufous on either web ; lower parts buffy or ochraceous, paler 



anteriorly. 

 c 1 . Larger, with lower parts much more deeply colored ; lower parts deep 



1 Geococcyx affinis HARTLAUB, Rev. Zool. 1844, 215. 

 * New subspecies. 



35 



