COCCYZUS. 389 



Genus COCCYZUS. 



The American Cuckoos were included by Linnaeus in his genus Cuculus ; 

 but in 1816 Vieillot, in his 'Analyse d'une nouvelle Ornithologie Elemen- 

 taire ' (p. 28), removed them into a separate genus under the name of 

 Coccyzus, designating the Yellow-billed Cuckoo as the type. 



The American Cuckoos are distinguished by their rounded wings and 

 by having only ten feathers in the tail. 



There are between twenty and thirty species in this genus, confined to 

 the southern portions of the Nearctic and the northern portions of the 

 Neotropical Region. Two species are accidental visitors to Europe, both 

 of which are said to have visited our islands. 



The Cuckoos comprised in this genus frequent well-wooded districts, 

 especially orchards and groves, preference being shown for low ground and 

 swampy places. Their flight is moderately quick and powerful, and their 

 notes are loud and guttural. Their food consists almost exclusively of 

 insects and larvae. Unlike the birds in the preceding genus, these 

 Cuckoos build a nest and hatch and rear their own young. The nests are 

 placed in trees and large bushes, and made of twigs, roots, strips of bark, 

 moss, grass, &c., and the eggs are unspotted green of different shades. 

 Sometimes they will deposit an egg in the nest of another species. They 

 are very much attached to their offspring, and become very noisy when 

 their nests are menaced. 



