1885.] MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON THE CUCKOOS. 1G9 



The genera which I have studied myself are the following : — 



Cucuhts. Eudynamis. 



Cacomantis. Phcenicophaes. 



Piaya. Crotophaga. 



Saurofliera. Geococcyx. 



Coccyzus. Centropvs. 



Diplopterus. Pyrrhocenior. 

 Guira. 



I have also been able to incorporate some deductions from the 

 MS. notes of my two predecessors upon Chrysococcyx and Coiia. 



There remain therefore a considerable number of genera which I 

 have not been able to examine ; such an omission will doubtless take 

 away from the value of the scheme of classification proposed here ; 

 but in any case the facts recorded will, I trust, remain as facts and be 

 at least an assistance towards a proper classification even if they do 

 not indicate its main outlines. 



Mr. Sharpe, in a paper on the Cuckoos of the Ethiopian Region \ 

 distinguishes two subfamilies — (1) C«cw^»/fe, including only Cucufus 

 and Goccystes, and (2) PhcenicophaiiKe, including Phcenicophaes,Coua, 

 Centropus, &c. This division appears to me to be, so far as I have 

 been able to follow it by a study of the anatomical characters of the 

 several genera, a natural one. I have separated, as will he seen later, 

 Phcenicophues and Eudyvnmis from the other genera belonging to 

 Mr. Sharpe's subfamily Phoenicophainse into a distinct subfamily, 

 for which I retain his name, including the other genera Centropus, 

 Cnua, &c. in a separate subfamily which may be termed Centropodinee; 

 nevertheless there is a far closer agreement between the Phoenico- 

 phainee and Centropodinae than between either of these and the 

 Cuculinse. Mr. Sharpe further remarks that it is difficult to place 

 the American genus Neomorphus away from Phcenicophaes ; that it is 

 impossible to separate the American from the Old-World Cuckoos 

 I hope to be aide to show in the present paper. 



The structures which I have chiefly made use of for classificatory 

 purposes are, (1) the muscles of the thigh, (2) the syrinx, (3) the 

 pterylosis ; the variations exhibited elsewhere do not appear to me 

 to be of sufficient importance to serve as a standard of classifi- 

 cation. 



It may, however, be worth while to record briefly some of the 

 differences that I have noticed in other structures besides the three 

 which I propose to describe more or less in detail. 



The gall-bladder is stated by Owen ^ to be wanting in almost all 

 the Cuculidas. This statement is by no means correct ; indeed the 

 gall-bladder appears to be very generally present and those cases 

 where it is absent are the exceptions ; it is present in Snurothera, 

 Coccyzus, Pyrrhocentor, and Cuculvs, but appears to be absent in 

 Crotophaga, and occasionally in Centropus : Coua according to Milne- 



1 P. Z. S. 1873, p. 578. = Comp. Anat. vol. ii. p. 177. 



