Some Indian Cuckoos 



With the plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis pas- 

 serinus) I have no personal acquaintance, although 

 it is widely spread in India. It is a smallish 

 species, not exceeding a blackbird in size, slate- 

 colour when adult, and barred when young. Its 

 call does not seem to be at all remarkable, being 

 rendered by " whe-whew, whe-wheew ! " and I 

 never heard of any one considering it annoying. 

 But it differs from the birds I have been dis- 

 cussing above in being far less limited in its 

 choice of foster-parents, and in this respect 

 resembles our wild birds ; for its eggs have been 

 found in the nests of a small grass-warbler 

 (Prima inornatd), a small babbler (Pyctorhis 

 sinensis), a shrike (Lanius erythronotus), and a 

 bulbul (Molpastes bengalensis). These lay very 

 different eggs, but the only colour for the plain- 

 tive cuckoo's eggs appears to be pale blue with 

 reddish and purple spots, which would certainly 

 not be a good match for any of them except 

 the warbler's. 



I may conclude as I have begun, with a 

 reference to our own familiar cuckoo. This I 

 only actually saw once in India, when a bird- 

 catcher brought a fine adult specimen to me 

 in the winter, but I have heard its ever-welcome 

 note at Darjeeling in the spring, for it is as 

 common in the Indian hills as in Europe. 

 Curiously enough, though its eggs have been 



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