An Honest Cuckoo 



approaches the crow's, being of a glossy blue- 

 black relieved by bright chestnut wings, a tout 

 ensemble which makes the bird very conspicuous 

 in its slow heavy flight. 



Both sexes wear the same plumage, set off by 

 fiery-red eyes, but the young differ in a curious 

 way. Some of them are simply dull editions of 

 the parents, the colours being duller and the 

 brown wings sullied with black, while others are 

 regularly barred with brown and black above 

 and white and black below, and on the tail. 



Both types have grey eyes. The barred ones, 

 of course, are much the most pheasant-like, but 

 they also suggest a hawk to some extent, and 

 the resemblance is noted by other birds. At any 

 rate, when on one occasion I bought a fledgling 

 of the barred variety in the Calcutta Market, and 

 showed it to a number of guinea-fowls in a coop, 

 they shrieked with terror at it, while, when I 

 got it home and put it on the balustrade of the 

 verandah it created excitement among our local 

 crows, which, however, did not venture to seri- 

 ously attack it, as it boldly faced them. 



It is interesting to see that the hawk-like ap- 

 pearance which is commonly supposed to be of 

 some use to the weak parasitic true cuckoos is 

 also found in these strong semi-predatory birds 

 and also that any general resemblance to a hawk 

 is good enough to produce an effect on other birds. 



i55 



