538 CUCULID^. 



MOROCOCCYX. 



Morococcyx, Sclater, Cat. Am. Birds, p. 322 (1862) ; Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 422. 



A monotypic genus peculiar to Central America with no near allies. It belongs to 

 the section of Ground-Cuckoos, but is a much smaller bird than either species of 

 Geococcyx, which are, perhaps, its next of kin. 



Its range in Mexico seems confined to the Western States from Sinaloa to Tehuan- 

 tepec; in Guatemala it is chiefly found in the valley of the Motagua river, and it also 

 occurs in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 



The general tint of the plumage is nearly uniform above with bronze tints, and pale 

 chestnut beneath, and with dull whitish spots on the outer rectrices; the bill is short, 

 the culmen regularly arched ; the nostrils are oval and at the lower edge of the nasal 

 fossa ; the space round the eye is bare, and coloured blue in life, the eyelashes simple, 

 strong bristles ; the tarsi are moderately long, and the toes longer in proportion than 

 in Geococcyx; the primaries short, hardly exceeding the secondaries, the wings thus 

 being much rounded ; the outer rectrices are about two-thirds the length of the middle 

 pair, the tail being rounded. 



1. lEorococcyx erythropygus, 



Coccyzus erythropyga, Less. Rev. Zool. 1842, p. 210'. 



Piaya erythropygia, Des Murs, Icon. Orn. t. 66^; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 133 'j G. C. Taylor, 



Ibis, 1860, p. 118*. 

 Morococcyx erythropygia, Scl. Cat. Am. Birds, p. 322 * ; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. p. 128 ° ; Mem. 



Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 293'; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 34 ^ v. Frant. J. f. Orn. 



1869, p. 361'; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 551"; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 48"; 



Sumichrast, La Nat. v. p. 239"; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 388 "; Zeledon, An. 



Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, p. 123'*. 

 Morococcyx erythropygus, Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 422 ". 



Supra murinus seneo vix nitens, capite summo cervino striate, dorso postioo saturate brunneo, Hneis paucis 

 cervinis transfasciato, stria superoiliari cervina, ooulorum ambitu nudo plumulis nigris undique marginato : 

 subtus saturate fulvus, gula paUidiore, tectricibus subcaudalibus rufo-brunneis ; caudae rectricibus utrinque 

 tribus cervino terminatis et fascia indistincta subtermiuali nigricante notatis ; rostro flavido, maxilla supra 

 nigricante ; pedibus pallide corylinis. Long, tota 10-7, alse 3-9, caudfe rectr. med. 5-2, reetr. lat. 3-6, 

 rostri a rictu 1-2, tarsi 1'5. (Descr. maris ex La Libertad, Salvador. Mus. nostr.) 



5 mari similis. 



Hab. Mexico, Mazatlan {Grayson'^), San Bias, Plains of Colima {W. JS. Richardson), 

 Acapulco, Dos Arroyos [Mrs. H. H. Smith), San Juan del Rio {RShouch'^^), 

 Chihuitan ^, Tehuantepec city ^, Santa Efigenia ^^, Tonala ^^, Juchitan ^^ (^Sumi- 

 chrast), Sierra de Santo Domingo, Chimalapa ( W. B. Bichardscn) ; Guatemala, 

 Laguna ^, Valley of the Rio Motagua [0. S. & F. I). G.), Volcan de Fuego [Sarg, 

 in Mus. Bremen) ; Salvador, Chinandega ( W. B. Richardson), Sucuya [Nutting ^^) ; 

 Costa Rica {Carmiol), Pacuare [v. Frantzius^, Zeledon^), Liberia (Zeledon ^^), 

 Atenas (Boucard^^). 



