Coccygus americanus.
1541 ♂
The following synopsis will serve to distinguish the North American species of Coccygus, with their more nearly related southern allies, all of them being of a light greenish color above, tinged with ashy towards the head:—
Species and Varieties.
A. Tail-feathers except two middle ones black, with broad, sharply defined terminal spaces of white.
a. Lower mandible yellow.
1. C. americanus. Beneath pure white, with an ashy shade across the jugulum. Inner webs of primaries mostly rufous. Auriculars nearly concolor with the nape. Length, 12.00; wing, 5.45; tail, 5.64; culmen, 1.00; tarsus, .90. Hab. United States (very rare in the Western Province), Jamaica, Porto Rico.
2. C. minor. Beneath ochraceous, generally paler anteriorly. Inner webs of primaries without any rufous. Auriculars blackish, conspicuously different from the nape. Length, 12.00; wing, 5.30; tail, 7.50; graduation of tail, 2.75. Tail-spots about 1.00 long. Hab. West Indies, and Northern and Eastern South America, Southern Florida.
b. Lower mandible blackish like the upper (pale blue in life).
3. C. melanocoryphus.[121] Colors similar to those of C. minor, but upper parts more brown. Wing, 4.50; tail, 5.85; graduation of the tail, 2.00. Tail-spots about .50 long. Hab. South America (Buenos Ayres, Peru, La Plata, Cayenne, etc.).
B. Tail-feathers all grayish-brown, with narrow terminal, obscure spots of white.