540 CUCULID^. 



black show conspicuously ; the tail is composed of rather narrow feathers, the outer 

 ones being about half as long as the central pair ; the upper tail-coverts are long and 

 narrow, and reach to within an inch of the tip of the tail. The general colour of the 

 plumage is tawny with dark centres to the feathers; the head has a tolerably 

 conspicuous crest. 

 ' The range of the only species is fully given below. 



1. Diplopterus naevius. 



Cuculus ntBvius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 170 '. 



Diplopterus navius, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 977'; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii. p. 178'; ix. p. 128*; 

 Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 33 " ; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 366 " ; Salv. P. Z. S. 1867, 

 p. 156'; 1870, p. 211"; v. Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 361 ' ; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. 

 vi. pp. 376 ", 387 " ; Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, p. 123 '' ; Cherrie, Auk, 

 1892, p. 326"; Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 423"; Chapman, Bull. Am. Mus. 

 Nat. Hist. vi. p. 64 '". 



Diplopterus excellens, Scl. P. Z. S. 1857, p. 229 '" ; Moore, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 60 " ; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 

 1859, p. 133''; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vii. p. 300''. 



Supra saturate fulvus, plumis omuibus medialiter striis latis nigricantibus notafcis, capite summo pailide castaneo 

 nigro striato, uropygio efc tectricibus siipracaudalibus elongatis pailide fulvis, rhachidibus nigris, superciliis 

 albidis, stria angusta mystacali et auricularibus nigris : subtus albus, gutture toto ad pectus et tectricibus 

 suboaudalibus cervinis ; alis fusois, extrorsum fulvo limbatis ; cauda fusco-nigrieante late fulvo marginata ; 

 rostro flavido, maxillsB basi corneo ; pedibus plumbeia. Long, tota circa 11"5, alae 4-8, caudee rectr. med. 6"8, 

 rectr. lat. 3"8, rostri a rictu 0-95, tarsi 1'3. (Descr. maris ex Chinandega, Nicaragua. Mus. nostr.) 



§ mari similis. 



Juv. plumis omnibus supra et tectricibus alarum macula oonspicua fulva terminatis. 



Hah. Mexico, San Andres Tuxtla {Boucard ^^), Playa Vicente {M. Trujillo), Teapa in 

 Tabasco {Mrs. H. H. Smith), Sta. Efigenia {Sumichrast ^) ; Guatemala, lletalhuleu, 

 Duenas, Savana Grande [0. S. & F. D. G.) ; Salvador, Volcan de San Miguel 

 ( W. B. Eichardson) ; Honduras, San Pedro {Leyland ^^ ^^) ; Nicaragua, Chinandega, 

 Matagalpa {W. B. Richardson), San Juan del Sur i°, Sucuya ^^ {Nutting); Costa 

 EiGA, San Jose {Cherrie^^), San Mateo {v. Frantzius^, Cooper^, Zeledon ^^), Guaitil 

 {v. Frantzius ^, Carmiol *), Pozo Azul de Perris {Zeledon ^^), Barranca {Arce) ; 

 Panama, David {Bridges'', Hicks^), Calovevora, Mina de Chorcha, Chitra {Arce^), 

 Lion Hill {M'Leannan ^ ^^). — South America generally, from Colombia to Guiana ^ 

 and Trinidad ^^ and to South Brazil ^^. 



Diplopterus ncevius is found sparingly but regularly distributed over a very wide area, 

 extending from the middle of the State of Vera Cruz throughout Central America, and 

 thence southwards over nearly the whole of the continent of South America as far as 

 the southern provinces of Brazil. Its range in altitude is considerable, for, though 

 chiefly a bird of the low hot districts, we found it as high as the neighbourhood of 

 Duenas — that is, nearly 5000 feet above sea-level. 



In 1857 1^ Mr. Sclater separated a bird sent from San Andres Tuxtla by M. Boucard 



