PARROTS, PAROQUETS: THICK-BILLED PARROT 307 
for about one third its length; cere densely feathered, concealing the nostrils. Adults: 
Green except for poppy red on forepart of head and wings, lemon yellow on under prim¬ 
ary coverts, blackish spot before eye and blackish under surface of primaries and tail 
feathers; iris brownish red, bill, legs and feet black. Young: similar, but bill mainly 
whitish, and red restricted. 
Range. —Northern part of Sierra Madre of Mexico; north casually to mountains 
of southern Arizona, and the Animas Mountains, New Mexico. 
State Records. —In 1919, Dr. Alexander Wetmorc was told by R. Winkler 
that in recent years his son had at times seen parrots on Animas Mountain, above 
Deer Creek. This is the first New Mexico record of this most interesting bird, and 
it is a great satisfaction to be able to add it to the State list. 
A confirmatory record was given Aldo Leopold by Forest Ranger Don S. Sullivan, 
who said that in 1917 some large Parrots were seen near the Elvey Ranch, Sec. 8, 
T. 33 S., R. 21 W., on the Animas Division of the Coronado Forest near the Mexican 
boundary. 
In 1918 a pair of Thick-billed Parrots found in the Chiracahua Mountains of 
Arizona were purchased for the National Zoological Park at Washington, D. C. 
As the Superintendent, Ned Hollister, said, 'This species is the only member of the 
order of parrots, excepting the almost 
extinct Carolina paroquet, known to occur 
within the United States. At intervals a 
number of years apart flights of Thick-bills 
appear in the mountains of southern 
Arizona, coming from Mexico. The birds 
obtained for the park were captured in 
January in the pine-forested Chiracahuas, 
when the ground in the higher altitudes 
where the birds occur was covered with 
snow” (1920b, p. 70) 
CUCKOOS, ROAD-RUNNERS, etc.: 
Order Cuculiformes 
CUCKOOS AND ROAD-RUNNERS: 
Family Cuculidae 
The Road-runners and Cuckoos 
are alike in having two toes point¬ 
ing forward and two back, but 
the feet of the Cuckoos, which are 
arboreal, are strictly for perching, 
while those of the Road-runner, 
which is terrestrial, are large and 
strong, for walking and running. 
Both are solitary birds with loud 
voices and curious calls. The eggs 
are laid at considerable intervals, so 
that eggs at different stages and 
young of different ages may be found in the nest. The young are 
hatched naked. 
i 
■ 
From lliologlcal Survey 
Fig. 48. Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus 
americanus) 
The white "thumb-marks” of the tail 
and the rufous wing patches shown in 
flight effectually mark the brown- 
backed Cuckoo 
