SOME INDIAN CUCKOOS 



With us in Britain the cuckoo, though he does 

 not neglect to make his presence felt, is a bird 

 apart, strange and abnormal in appearance, note, 

 and habits ; but in warm countries cuckoos are 

 numerous and familiar birds, and form a con- 

 spicuous feature in the bird world. At any rate, 

 this is very much the case in India, where some 

 of the commonest and most obtrusive birds are 

 cuckoos, which do not allow themselves to be 

 ignored by the most casual observer, being 

 obvious to the ear if not always to the eye. 



The best known of all is that splendid fellow 

 the koel, or black cuckoo [Eudynamts konorata), 

 whose full, jovial, crescendo notes compel atten- 

 tion wherever he is found, and that is all over 

 the plains of India. The male and female of 

 this bird are so unlike that they hardly seem 

 to be referable to the same species, the former 

 being glossy blue-black, and the latter speckled, 

 and somewhat the larger of the two. Both have 

 ruby eyes, and bills of the delicate green of jade, 

 and, being very elegantly formed birds, and as 

 large as jays, are a distinct addition to the land- 

 scape as they skim from tree to tree with a 



33 c 



