282 



SCANSORES. CUCULID^E. 



January I have found eggs in the ovary, as large as 

 dust-shot. 



The shortness of the intestinal canal, and its 

 freedom from convolutions is remarkable, and struck 

 me forcibly by comparison with that of a White - 

 winged Dove, which I happened to dissect on the 

 same day with this. The length of the intestine 

 in the granivorous bird was forty-one inches, that 

 in the insectivorous, ten. 



SAVANNA BLACKBIRD.* 



Crotophaga Ani. LINN. 



PL Enl. 102. 



IN all open places, but particularly savannas and 

 pastures which are occupied by cattle or horses, these 

 birds are seen all day long, and all the year round. 

 They are perhaps the most common of the birds of 

 Jamaica. Familiar and impudent, though very wary, 

 they permit a considerable acquaintance with their 

 manners, while an approach within a limited distance, 



* Length 14f inches, expanse 1 7|, flexure 6|, tail 7f , rictus 1^, height 

 of beak -^, tarsus 1^, middle toe 1^. 



Irides deep hazel, feet black ; beak black, the ridge semitransparent, 

 furrowed perpendicularly. Plumage black, with rich purple reflections, 

 most conspicuous on the wing-quills ; the clothing feathers have the disk of 

 an intense black, with a lighter border, brilliantly iridescent; the borders 

 on the neck are larger in proportion, and are sometimes brassy. 



Intestine 12 inches ; two caeca, 1 inch long, 2 inches from the cloaca. 



The young have not the scaly character of the plumage, nor any ridge 

 upon the beak. 



