File:Key to North American birds. Containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boundary, inclusive of (14728792726).jpg

Identifier: cu31924001916372 (find matches)
Title: Key to North American birds. Containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boundary, inclusive of Greenland and Lower California, with which are incorporated general ornithology: an outline of the structure and classification of birds; and field ornithology, a manual of collecting, preparing, and preserving birds
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Coues, Elliott, 1842-1899
Subjects: Birds Birds
Publisher: Boston, Estes and Lauriat
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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in this work. There are two carotids. The oil-gland is nude, and coeoa arepresent. The family is a large and important one. It comprehends quite a number of leading CUCULIDJE CBOTOPHAGINM: AN IS. 471 forms showing peculiar minor modifications; these correspond iu great measure with certaingeographical areas of faanal distribution, and arc generally held to constitute subfamilies.Three or four such are con-fined to America; about twiceas many belong exclusively tothe Old World; among themare the Ouculmce, or typicalcuckoos allied to the EuropeanC. canoru.1 (fig. 322), famous,like our Cowbird, for then-parasitism. This section com-prehends the great majority ofthe Old World species; theCouvruB are a peculiar Mada-gascan type; others rest upona special condition of theclaws or plumage. There areabout 200 current species ofthe family. Many of them,besides the one just cited ininstance, lay their eggs inother birds nests. The Amer-ican cuckoos have been de-clared free of suspicion of such
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Fig. 322. —European Cuckoo, Cucultis cnnorus. (From Dixon.) domestic irregularities ; but, though pretty well-behaved, their record is not quite clean: theydo sometimes slip into the wrong nest. The curious infelicity seems to be connected in someway with the inability of the 9 to complete her clutch of eggs with the rapidity and regularityusual among birds, and so incubate them iu one batch. The nests of our species of Coccyguscommonly contain young by the time the last egg of the lot is laid. We have three very distinct genera, usually referred to as many subfamilies. CE0TOPHAGiN.ai;. Terrestrial. Analysis of Subfamilies and Genera.Tail of 8 feathers. Bill compressed, crested. Plumage lustrous black Crntovhaffa 146 SAUBOTHERiir.E. Terrestrial. Tail of 10 feathers. Feet ambulatorial, with long tarsi. Gcococcyx 147 COCCYGIN.^. Arboreal. Tail of 10 feathers. Feet insessorial, with short tarsi .... Coccygus 148 36. Subfamily CROTOPHACIN>E: Anis. Tail of eight feathers, graduated, l

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