GROOVE-BILLED AN I. 

 Crotopbaga sulcirostris Swains. 



The Groove-billed Ani was discovered in our territory by Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, 

 near Lomita, Tex., on the lower Rio Grande, in May 1878, and since that time it has 

 been found nesting in small numbers in the Chaparral near Brownsville. Stragglers 

 have also been observed in Louisiana and Florida. From southern Texas it is distributed 

 through Mexico and Central America, and along the western slope of the Andes, in 

 South America, to Peru. 



This Ani is a social bird, being found in small companies of from six to fifteen; it 

 is half-domesticated in its habits, frequenting haciendas, fields, and pastures, and is con- 

 sidered as very useful because of its habit of destroying large numbers of parasites, 

 especially ticks, infesting the cattle. It is known in Mexico as the "Pijon" and "Garra- 

 patero" (Tick-eater), and another local name is "Chicuya." According to Dr. Anastasio 

 Alfaro, Director of the National Museum of Costa Rica, at San Jos^, it is known there 

 as the "Zopilotillo" {so-pee-lo-t§e-yo) , and as the "Tijo-tijo" (tee-bo-tee-bo) . Mr. Charles 

 W. Richmond, who collected quite a number of these birds at Bluefields, Nicaragua, for 

 the Public Museum of Milwaukee, writes: "A very abundant resident. It appears to 

 breed at various times during the year, as I have found fresh eggs July 6, 1892, and 

 young birds, recently firom the nest, November 29, the breeding season spreading over 

 seven months of the year at least. . . . Nests are firequently built in the heart of a thick, 

 thorny orange or lemon tree, and this appears to be a favorite situation. In this case 

 the nest is from four to seven feet from the ground, and, besides being difiicult to get 

 at, is somewhat protected from invasion by the wasps which invariably take up their 

 abode in the same tree." All the nests found by Mr. Richmond were composed of dead 

 black twigs, loosely put together, and lined with green leaves. The eggs are glaucous- 

 blue and often spotted with a chalky matter. "An orange tree near the house was a 

 favorite place where thirty or forty birds came to pass the night, flying in from the 

 surrounding pasture about dusk, and after a few short flights from one tree to another, 

 passed into the roost one or two at a time, hopping about as if seeking a favorable 

 perch, uttering their peculiar note meanwhile." (Richmond^) 



DESCRIPTION : Plumage entirely dull black, feathers on head, neck, and body edged with metallic bluish, 

 greenish, or bronzy tints; wings and tail faintly glossed with metallic bluish or violet. Upper mandible 

 with several distinct longitudinal groves. 



Length, 13.27 inches; wing, 6.00; tail, 7.80 inches. 



