BIRDS—CUCULIDAE—COCCYGUS. 
75 
List of specimens. 
Catal 
No. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
When collect¬ 
ed. 
Whence obtained. 
Orig’l 
No. 
Collected by— 
Length. 
Extent. 
Wing. 
Remarks. 
Sep. 20 1853 
5068 
Aug. 20,1856 
119 
23.50 
20 . 
7. 
Bill light brown with dark 
ridge and tips ; eyes light 
brown, with light blue 
iris ! (pupil); feet, light 
blue; gums, pink. 
5069 
Aug. 4,1855 
116 
24.25 
21 . 
7. 
Bill light blue, with dark 
tips; feet, whitish blue; 
eyes, light brown; gums. 
' 
pale blue. 
5070 
Oct. 20,1855 
148 
23. 
20 . 
6.50 
Feet, gray; eyes blue; 
gums, white. 
6176 
6177 
4053 
Q 
87 
20 . 
18. 
6 . 
4054 
$ 
79 
20 . 
18. 
6.25 
Eyes, brownish gray; bill, 
slate; feet, lead colored. 
6178 
5067 
Nov. 22,1855 
65 
20 . 
20 . 
7.50 
Eyes brown, with yellow 
iris; feet and gums, pale 
blue. 
6182 
October, 1853 
54 
6179 
Dr. Henry,U. S. A. 
6183 
Nov. 2,1853 
33 
22 . 
18. 
8 . 
4576 
40 
4914 
6187 
6188 
6185 
$ 
6186 
9 
4565 
.| 
5946 
4487 
| 
COCCYGUS, Vieillot. 
Coccyzus, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816. 
Erythrcphrys, Swainson, Glass. Birds, II, 1837, 322. 
Head without crest; feathers about base of bill soft; bill nearly as long as the head, decurved, slender, and attenuated 
towards the end. Nostrils linear. Wings lengthened, reaching the middle of the tail; the tertials short. Tail of ten graduated 
feathers. Feet weak ; tarsi shorter than the middle toe. 
The species of Coccygus are readily distinguished from those of Geococcyx by their arboreal 
habits, confining themselves mainly to trees, instead of living habitually on the ground. The 
plumage is soft, fine, and compact. 
The American cuckoos differ from the European cuckoos, ( Cuculus ,) by having lengthened 
naked tarsi, instead of very short feathered ones. The nostrils are elongated, too, instead of 
rounded. The habits of the two are entirely different, the American species rearing their own 
young, instead of laying the eggs in the nests of other birds, like the European cuckoo and the 
American cowbird (Molothrus pecoris). 
