Order III. SCANSORES. 
Family IV. Cuculidje. 
The fourth Subfamily, 
CROTOPHAGINiE, or Anis, 
have the Bill more or less lengthened, with the culmen arched, and the sides much compressed ; the 
Nostrils basal, lateral, and pierced in the substance of the bill ; the "Wings short and rounded ; the Tail 
lengthened, broad, and graduated ; the Tarsi long, and covered with broad transverse scales ; the Toes 
long, placed two and two, and the two outer ones the longest ; the Claws short and curved. 
Crotophaga Linn,* 
Bill short, sides much compressed, with the culmen elevated, arched, and forming an acute ridge, 
the tip rather hooked, and the lateral margins slightly curved ; the nostrils lateral, exposed, and 
the opening partly closed by a membrane. Wmgs short, with the first three quiUs graduated, and the 
fourth, fifth, and sixth nearly equal and the longest. Tail long and rounded, with the feathers broad. 
Ta7^si long, strong, and covered with broad transverse scales. Toes long, slender, and the two outer 
ones nearly equal ; the claws long, curved, and acute. 
They inhabit the islands of the West Indies and tropical parts of South America, preferring, says iSIr. Kirk, places 
under cultivation, and more especially the low land in the neighbourhood of clear pastures or low shrubberies and 
swamps. Among the thickest foliage or grass they easily make their way by means of their sharp-edged bills, with 
which they scatter the herbage on each side in their progress after the grasshoppers, and other kinds of orthopterous 
insects. They have been seen on the dead carcass of a sheep ; whether attracted by the putrid flesh, or by the larvae of 
insects that are found in such places, is at present uncertain. In the dry season they have been noticed in flocks of 
twenty or thii-ty individuals about small rivulets, seeking the tadpoles on which they feed. Their flight is easy, and is 
extended only from shrub to shrub, in flocks of about twenty individuals, each uttering its note as they proceed. The 
nest is built in the fork of a tree or in a shrub, covered with a thicket of mistletoe vine, rudely constructed of coarse 
materials, chiefly small sticks, with the more pliable portions placed inside, and totally destitute of any soft lining. The 
eggs are five to seven or more in number. The young evince great dexterity in hopping from branch to branch ; long 
ere they are able to fly they leave the nests, and may frequently be seen, says Mr. Kirk, perched on the top of a shrub 
or thicket of vines, with a congregation of adult birds ; and, as the parents retire from the intruder by flight, the young 
prepare by long and rapid leaps to reach the ground, where they escape by an exceedingly quick run. 
1. C. Ani Linn. PI. enl. 102. f. 2. 
2. C. major Linn. PI. enl. 102. f. 1. 
3. C. kevirostra Swains. Two Cent, and a Quart, p. .921. fig. 65. a. 
4. P. rugirostra Swains. Two Cent and a Quart, p. 321. fig. 65. , 6. C. semisukata Swains. Two Cent, and a Quart, p. 346" 
b., Jard. & Selby's 111. Orn. n. s. pi. 41. ' 
5. C. sulcirostra Swains. Phil. Mag. 1827- p. 440., Two Cent, 
and a Quart, p. 322. fig. 6.5. c. — Crotophaga Casasi Lean. Cent. 
ZooL t. 9. 
• It was in the Syxtema XaftircE of Linnseus {\756) that this genus was established. In I76O, Brisson used Crotophagus. 
