ANIS, ROAD-RUNNERS, AND CUCKOOS 
193 
ORDER COCCYGES: CUCKOOS, ETC. 
(Families Cuculid^:, Trogonid^:, and Alcedinid^e.) 
FAMILY CUCULIDiE: ANIS, ROAD-RUNNERS, AND 
CUCKOOS. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Tail feathers S .... 
1'. Tail feathers 10. 
2. Bill longer than head 
2'. Bill not longer than head 
GENUS CROTOPHAGA. 
384. Crotophaga sulcirostris Swains . Groove-billed Ani. 
Bill thick, with a convex crest; wings rounded ; tail feathers broad, 
widening to very obtuse ends. Adults : 
dull black, feathers of body with 
metallic bluish, greenish, or bronzy 
edgings ; wings and tail faintly glossed 
with metallic bluish or violet; upper part of bill with several distinct 
grooves. Young: uniform sooty black. Length: 12.00-14.50, wing 5.50- 
6.50, tail 7.30-8.30. 
Distribution. — In Lower Sonoran and Tropical zones from southern 
Texas south to Peru. Casual in southern parts of California, Arizona, 
Louisiana, and Florida. 
Nest. — Bulky, made of twigs and lined with green leaves, placed often 
in an orange or lemon tree. Eggs: 3 to 5, milky blue. 
Food. — Grasshoppers, and parasites of cattle. 
The groove-billed anis are residents of the lowlands, Major 
Bendire says, rarely being found at an altitude of more than 700 
feet. 
They resemble the cowbirds in their habit of following cattle, and 
not only catch the insects that the cows start up but do a great deal 
of good by relieving the animals of the parasites which infest them. 
When not disturbed the birds become very tame and roost in num¬ 
bers about the houses. Their call-note, Dr. Ralph thinks, suggests 
that of the flicker — a plee-co repeated rapidly. 
GENUS GEOCOCCYX. 
385. Geococcyx californianus (Less.). Road-runner. 
Bare space around eye, orange and blue; feathers of head and neck 
largely bristle-tipped ; whole plumage coarse and harsh ; eyelids lashed ; 
wings short and concavo-convex, with long inner secondaries folded entirely 
over primaries; tail long and graduated; upper parts conspicuously 
streaked with brownish white, most heavily on wings ; crest and fore parts 
of back glossed with bluish black, changing to bronzy green or brown; 
tail long, plain bronzy, blue black, and green, graduated, tips with white 
Fig. 255. 
Crotophaga, p. 193. 
Geococcyx, p. 193. 
. Coccyzus, p. 195. 
