52 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XII. 



cuckoo's. It is of a bright blue colour, not nearly so dai-k as the egg 

 of Hieroccoccyx varius. I was camped at the place for several days, 

 and though I saw and heard C , micropterus constantly, I never saw any 

 other cuckoo in the neighbourhood. 



1109. HiEROCOCCYX VARIUS, Vahl. 



A permanent resident, fairly distributed all over the district, and 

 not uncommon about Karwar in the rains. 



1112. Cacomantis passerinus, Vahl. 



Very common in the Northern portion of the district, viz., Halyal, 

 Supa, and Karwar and as far south as Ankola. I have only once come 

 across it in the cold weather at Sirsi and once at Kumta. In the rains 

 at Karwar across the Kalauuddi its note practically never ceases, and 

 there were always a couple on the little hill in which the Collector's 

 bungalow at Karwar is situated. I have taken many of their eggs. 

 They were laid in every case in the nests of Orthotomus sutorius. On 

 one occasion 1 noticed a pair flying about most excitedly round a bush 

 in which I knew there was a nest of O. sutorius^ aud on waiting till they 

 had left, examined the nest, which I found to contain three blue eggs of 

 the ordiuary type, and a white one considerably but not very strikingly 

 larger, and very similarly marked with brown spots. The majority 

 of 0. sutorius in Kanara lay eggs with a blue ground, and although 

 I have taken this cuckoo's eggs eight or ten times in their nests, in every 

 case whether the tailor-bird's eggs were blue or white, the cuckoo's 

 had a white ground. This is remarkable, as all the previous records 

 of the egg of this cuckoo are to the effect that the egg has a blue ground. 

 1114. Penthoceryx sonnerati, Lath. 



This cuckoo is a permanent resident, but is not nearly so com- 

 mon as the last. In the rains it is fairly common about Karwar, 

 and I have noticed it occasionally at all seasons all over the distrio":. It is 

 a very noisy bird with a clear call somewhat resembling that of ^. varius^ 

 but not so loud or long, and omitting the very high notes at the end. 

 In Augnst, 1894, I saw a young one being fed by a pair of loras, and 

 in April of that year I found at Sirsi a nest of . fuscicauiata containing 

 two eggs of an ordinary bright coloured type and also a dull red Qgg of 

 quite a different texture. This belonged, I have no doubt, to this bird, 

 as it is alinc«t similar to one from the Barnes' colloctiou which was 

 extracted from a shot bird. 



