THE CUCKOO AND HIS KINDRED. 121 



seems to suggest a migration from India to Soutli 

 Africa across the Indian Ocean, a route which is 

 now but httle followed (Conf. Migration of Birds, 

 pp. 100, 121). On the other hand, our Cuckoo would 

 appear to interbreed with C. capensis, as intermediate 

 forms have been obtained in North-west Africa. 

 This fact is a very interesting ones and seems to 

 suggest that the Palasarctic Cuckoo occasionally 

 breeds in its South African winter quarters. The 

 Himalayan Cuckoo is only known to differ from 

 C. canorus in being a trifle smaller. The measure- 

 ments, however, completely intergrade, so that large 

 examples of C. himalayanus are indistinguishable 

 from small examples of C. canorus. The note of 

 the two races is entirely different, that of the Hima- 

 layan Cuckoo being single and very guttural — a 

 peculiarity which prompted Swinhoe to bestow the 

 name of C. monosyllabicus upon this Eastern race. 

 The South African Cuckoo (C capensis) is dis- 

 tinguished by its chestnut upper breast. That 

 C. canorus interbreeds with C. himalaijanus seems 

 extremely probable. 



The northern or spring migration of the Cuckoo 

 begins in March and continues until the first or 

 second week in June. Towards the end of March 

 the birds have reached the basin of the Mediterra- 



