BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 67 



anteriorly and posteriorly, white in middle portion; sexes alike, but 

 young with ochraceous or buffy terminal spots to feathers of upper 

 parts. 



Range. — Whole of tropical America except West Indies and Gala- 

 pagos Islands. (Monotypic.) 



TAPERA N^EVIA EXCELLENS (Sclater). 



NORTHERN STRIPED CUCKOO. 



Similar to T. n. nse,ma, a of South America, but averaging decidedly 

 larger, with relatively stouter bill. 



Adults {sexes alike). — Pileum, including crest, dull cinnamon- 

 rufous or hazel, each feather with a broad median streak of dull black; 

 rest of upper parts varying (according to age of plumage)* from 

 cinnamon-ochraceous or clay color to buffy grayish, each feather 

 (except remiges, rectrices, primary coverts, and alulae) with a median 

 area of blackish, these forming broad stripes on back and scapulars, 

 narrow stripes or streaks on rump and upper tail-coverts, and broad 

 central triangular or subcuneate spots on wing-coverts; alulae plain 

 sooty black; primary coverts grayish brown becoming darker ter- 

 minally, the two outermost ones sooty blackish; primaries and distal 

 secondaries grayish brown narrowly margined with pale grayish 



° [Cuculus] nxvius Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, i, 1766, 170 (Cayenne; based on 

 Cuculus cayanensis mevius Brisson, Om., iv, 128=adult). — Cuculus nxvius Temminck, 

 Cat. Syst., 1807, 57; Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., viii, 1817, 271.— Diplopterus 

 nxvius Boie, Isis, 1826, 977; Sclater, Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 321; Shelley, Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus., xix, 1891, 423, part. — Piaya nxvia Lesson, Traits d'Orn., 1831, 142. — 

 Qeococeyx nxvius Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, i, no. 25 (Cuculi) 1864, 42. — Tapera 

 nsevia Lonnberg, Ibis, April, 1903, 239, in text. — [Cuculus] punctulatus Gmelin, Syst. 

 Nat., i, pt. i, 1788, 414 (Cayenne; based on Punctated Cuchow Latham, Synop. Birds, 

 i, pt. ii, 541=young). — Coccyzus punctulatus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., viii, 

 1817, 277. — Cuculus galeritus Illiger, Abh. der Konigl. Ak. Wiss. Berlin for 1812-13 

 (1816), 224 (Guiana; based on Cuculus nxvius, /3 Gmelin, Syst. Nat.,i, pt. i, 1788, 413; 

 cites also Chochi Azara, Apunt., ii, 359). — D[iplopterus] galeritus Cabanis, in Schom- 

 burgk's Beis. Brit. Guiana, iii, 1848, 713. — Diplopterus nxvius Burmeister, Syst. Ueb. 

 Th. Bras., ii, 1856, 262.— Coccyzus chochi Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., viii, 1817, 

 272 (Paraguay; based on Chochi Azara, Apunt. Parag. (i), ii, 269). — D[iplopterus] chochi 

 Cabanis and Heine, Mus. Hein., iv, Heft 1, 1862, 94 (s. Brazil). — Diplopterus nxvius (?) 

 chochi Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., iv, Nov. 25, 1881, 193. — Coccyzus chirriri 

 Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., viii, 1817, 273 (Paraguay; based on Chirri Azara, 

 Apunt. Parag. (i), ii, 269). — Coccyzus ruficapillus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., 

 viii, 1817, 278 ("New Holland").— C[occyzus] septorum Vieillot, Enc. Meth., iii, 1823, 

 1343 (Guiana; based on Buffon). — Tapera brasiliensis Thunberg, Gotheb. -k. Vet. och 

 Vitterhets Samhallets Nya Handl., iii, 1819, i, pi. 1. — Piaya brasiliana Lesson, Rev. 

 Zool., ii, Feb., 1839, 41 (Brazil; coll. Abeill6).— [Diplopterus] brasiliana Bonaparte, 

 Consp. Av., i, 1850, 110. — Diplopterus lessoni Bonaparte, Consp. Av., i, 1850, 109 

 (Brazil; coll. Paris Mus.). — [Diplopterus nxvius] (?) lessoni Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., iv, Nov. 25, 1881, 193. 



B The freshly acquired or unworn plumage is strongly ochraceous, the worn or 

 abraded plumage becoming more grayish. 



