•i'3-1 On the Natural History of 



which I propose to describe hereafter. All these are more or less 

 of a grey or slate-colour, transversely banded, in various ways, be- 

 neath, upon a whitish ground. In -the Cuculus nigricans (Zoolo- 

 gical 111. ii. pi. 7-) however, we have a species, nearly typical in its 

 structure, but aberrant in its colours : the wing begins to have a 

 less attenuated form, the second quill being of a length intermediate 

 between the first and third, instead of, as in our cuckoo, only a lit- 

 tle shorter than the third. We look upon this bird, therefore, as 

 conducting us to the genus Oxylophus, under which, in a word, I 

 arrange all those birds of M. Vieillot's genus Coccyzus, inhabiting 

 the Old World, which have pointed wings. Like the typical cuc- 

 koos we have just left, these birds* are likewise parasitic ; but they 

 are distinguished by having wings not quite so long, the third quill 

 being shorter than the fourth : the sides of the bill are more com- 

 pressed, the culmen less convex, and narrower at the base, and the 

 upper mandible is perfectly entire ; the tarsus is longer, but it is 

 still inferior to the longest toe. Most of the species have conspicu- 

 ous crests, the feathers of which are narrow and pointed. The 

 Oxylophus Levaillanlii (Zool. 111. ii. pi. 13,) formerly described as 

 an example of the old genus Coccyzus, and Ox. edolius (he Vail. 

 Ois. d'Af. v. pi. 207-o,) are both types of this group, and are at 

 once distinguished, as before remarked, from all of the Coccyzince, 

 bv their longer, and more pointed wings. 



There are two or three cuckoos of North America, which I feel 

 persuaded are of a distinct type from those just mentioned, although 

 there is some difficulty in determining what are their external cha- 

 racteristics. We are assured by Levaillant, that all the species of 

 Oxylophus discovered by him are parasitic ; but the American 

 birds to which I now allude (the Carolina and black-billed cuckoos 

 of Wilson.) are not so, for both migrate into the United States for 

 the purpose of breeding, so that, however their external anatomy 

 may assimilate them to the genus Oxylophus, their internal struc- 

 ture must be different. Their colouring, also, is altogether pecu- 

 liar, plainly intimating their analogy to the Scansorial creepers, and 

 to many of the undoubted representatives of that family. For the 

 present, the formation of their wings will distinguish them at once 

 from Oxylophus, for the third quill is the longest of all; and this 

 makes the wing as much pointed as that of Cuculus. Independent 

 of the two species above-mentioned of this new genus (Erythro- 

 phrys,) there is another found in Brazil. 



I feel much more scrupulous in adopting the genus Chalcites, than 

 in proposing that of Erythrophrys. The beautiful little shining 



* Levaillant's Oiseaux d'Afrique. 



