366 ZOOLOGY. 
pressed, rather long; wings moderate, rounded ; tail long; tarsi and feet 
long. Size small, colors plain. 
This group is composed of rather an anomalous collection of Cuckoos, 
natives of all parts of the world except Europe. Africa and South 
America produce much the larger number of species. 
The two* North American cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus and C. 
erythrophthalmns) belong here. The former, or yellow-billed cuckoo, is quite 
frequently seen and oftener heard, as it is most generally perched in a tree 
of thick foliage, and has a loud note. It is a plain-colored though rather 
elegant-looking bird, with glossy drab plumage above and pure white 
below, arriving early in May in the northern States. Unlike the cuckoo 
of Europe this bird has sufficient regard for its reputation to have a home - 
of its own, which is generally constructed in the orchard or an isolated fruit 
tree. Its note is something similar to the syllables kow-e, rapidly repeated, 
from which it has acquired the name of “ cow-bird” in some districts. 
The red-eyed or black-billed cuckoo is not so numerous, but very similar. 
in habits and appearance. 
Sub-fam. 4. Crotophagine, or Anis. Bill rather long, arched, and much 
compressed ; wings short, rounded; tail long, broad; tarsi and feet long. 
Size various ; colors generally dull, sometimes black. 
This assemblage of birds is confined to tropical regions, and is composed 
of about twenty species of very dissimilar general appearance. 
The American species, or anis, as they are usually called, are black birds 
with singularly compressed and elevated upper mandibles, in fact having 
the appearance of a prominent appendage in front. They inhabit the 
West Indies and South America, being partial to cultivated grounds, pas- 
tures, and meadows, through the thickest grass of which they readily make 
their way by means of their ploughshare-like bills, in pursuit of grasshoppers 
and other insects on which they subsist. The common ani (Crotophaga 
ant), the greater ani (C. major), and the grooved-bill ani (C. sulcirostris) 
are common species. The latter has been observed in Mexico. 
Sub-fam. 5. Cuculine, or Cuckoos. Bill broad, curved, compressed ; 
wings long, pointed; tail long, graduated; tarsi short, feet strong. Size 
rather large ; colors various. 
A large sub-family, entirely confined to the old world. Nearly all the 
species are found in the warmer regions of Asia and Africa, two only being 
regarded as properly European birds. They are the crested cuckoo (Oxy- 
lophus glandarius) and the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). 
The latter is one of the birds of Europe which has attracted attention 
from the earliest period, and has found a place in the literature of all Euro- 
pean nations. He is a plain-plumaged bird, of deep bluish grey above, and 
white with blackish bars beneath the body. 
«There are few birds,” as Sir William Jardine observes, “ which have 
excited so much interest as the common cuckoo. Its note in spring herald- 
ing the return of sunny skies and bursting vegetation, carries with it dear 
associations in every country where it is known; while the singular provi- 
sien of its making use of the nests of other birds in which to deposit its 
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