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CUCULIN^. COCCYZUS. 
FAMILY XXVII. CUCULINAi:. CUCKOOS. 
Bill long or of moderate length, broader than high at the 
base, compressed toward the end, straight or somewhat 
arched ; upper mandible with the dorsal line convex or 
arched, the ridge indistinct, the sides convex, the edges 
arched, sharp, without notch, the tip decurved ; lower man- 
dible with the angle rather short, the dorsal line straight or 
decurved, the ridge thin, the sides erect or convex, the tip 
slightly decurved, acute. Nostrils basal, oblong, generally 
marginate. Head of moderate size ; neck of ordinary length ; 
body rather slender. Feet of moderate length; tarsus with 
broad scutella; toes long, slender, flat beneath, outer directed 
outwards or backwards. Claws long or of moderate length, 
arched, compressed, acute. Plumage blended ; wings gene- 
rally long, with the first quill short, the third and fourth 
longest. Tail long, of ten feathers; upper mandible very 
narrow beneath, with three longitudinal ridges ; tongue 
slender, emarginate, and papillate at the base, the tip horny, 
thin, lacerated, and slit ; oesophagus rather wide, without 
dilatation; stomach large, round, with the muscular coat 
very thin, the epithelium soft, rugous ; intestine of moderate 
length and width ; coeca long, oblong, narrowed at the base. 
Trachea simple, with a single very slender pair of inferior 
laryngeal muscles. 
GENUS I. COCCYZUS, Vieill. AMERICAN CUCKOO. 
Bill of moderate length, rather slender, somewhat arched, 
much compressed, acute ; upper mandible with the dorsal 
line arched, the ridge rounded, the sides erect toward the 
end, the edges thin, direct, the tip narrow, decurved; lower 
mandible with the angle of moderate length, rather wider, 
the dorsal line decurved toward the end, the sides nearly 
erect, the edges decurved, the tip narrow ; the nostrils small, 
oblong, operculate. Eyelids bare, except at the margin. 
