le swamps and thickets. A reliable account of their nesting
habits is lacking, as are also specimens of their eggs taken from wild
birds. They are said to build rude nests of sticks upon horizontal
branches of cypress trees, and to nest in colonies; it is also claimed
that they nest in hollow trees, laying from three to five pure white
eggs. The one figured is one of three laid in confinement at Washington,
D. C., by a pair of birds owned by Mr. Robert Ridgeway. It is 1.31 x
1.06 and was laid July 12, 1892. This set is in the collection of Mr.
John Lewis Childs.

382.1. Thick-billed Parrot. _Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha._

Range.--Mexico, north casually to the Mexican border of the United
States. This large Parrot (16 inches long) has a heavy black bill, and
the plumage is entirely green except for the deep red forehead, strips
over the eye, shoulder, and thighs, and the yellowish under wing
coverts. Their eggs are white and are laid in natural cavities in large
trees in forests.

CUCKOOS, TROGANS, KINGFISHERS, ETC. Order XIV.

CUCKOOS, ANIS, ETC. Family CUCULIDAE

383. ANI. _Crotophaga ani._

Range.--Northeastern South America and the West Indies; casual in
Florida, and along the Gulf coast; accidental in Pennsylvania.

This species is similar to the next, but the bill is smoother and
without grooves. Its nesting habits are the same as those of the more
common American species.

[Illustration 243: White.]
[Illustration: Carolina Paroquet.]
[Illustration: right hand margin.]

Page 242

[Illustration 244: ROADRUNNER.]

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384. GROOVE-BILLED ANI. _Crotophaga sulcirostris._

Range.--Mexico and the border of the United States; common in southern
Texas. This odd species has a Cuckoo-like form, but is wholly blue black
in color, and has a high thin bill with three conspicuous longitudinal
grooves on each side. They build large bulky nests of twigs, lined with
leaves and grasses, and located in low trees and bushes. They build in
small colonies but do not, as is claimed of the common Ani, build a
large nest for several to occupy. They lay from three to five eggs of a
greenish blue color, covered with a chalky white deposit. Size 1.25 x
1.00. They are laid in May or June.

385. ROAD-RUNNER. _Geococcyx californianus._

Range.--Western United States from Oregon, Colorado and Kansas,
southward; most abundant on the Mexican border, and wintering in central
Mexico. This curious species is known as the