KHASIA HILLS CUCKOO 103 



wliicli might have held a nest, and from tune to time she disap- 

 peared from sight as she hopped into the various depressions, going 

 backward and forward in the most persistent manner, mobbed all 

 the time by the chats. 



"She was, I think, a full 10 minutes searching for the nest, but, at 

 last she dipped out of sight and a flutter of her wings suggested she 

 had found the nest and was in the act of laying. She was out of my 

 sight for about 4 seconds and then sped away in a great hurry. 



"We climbed the fence and walking up to the place whence she 

 had flown found a very well-concealed chats' nest in which by stoop- 

 ing down to the ground I could see that the nest contained two eggs, 

 the cuckoo's and one of the chat's; by using the tips of my two 

 fingers I was just able to draw the eggs out, one at a time with con- 

 siderable difficulty." 



Voice. — The call of the male during the breeding season is exactly 

 the same as that of the European cuckoo, but in winter it also has a 

 single note sounding like chuck softly repeated two or three times. 

 At the beginning of the season the bisyllabic note, from which the 

 bird derives its name, is not perfect and the imperfections cover quite 

 a wide range of variations. Sometimes the note is single instead of 

 double; often it is preceded by a rather hoarse note of the same 

 character as the call, while sometimes the cuck-oo is followed by an- 

 other hoarser note. The female has the sunnner bubbling note of its 

 cousin and also certain chuclding notes, very seldom uttered, while 

 in winter it gives vent to the same soft chucks as the male. "Whether 

 the female ever calls cuckoo is disputed, but, personally, I am fairly 

 certain that she does, although it may be but seldom. The bubbling 

 note is the call to the male and is also repeated after she has met her 

 mate, but it is then, I thinly, lower and softer, perhaps an expression 

 of satisfaction. 



During the daytime the calling of the male is almost continuous, 

 but that of the female far less so as the former calls in the presence 

 of a female, while the latter does not "bubble" before the male except 

 at the moment she takes to flight and invites him to follow her. 



On moonlight nights the male often calls with as much persistency 

 as during the day, but I have never heard it calling on dark nights 

 until dawn is advanced. 



Enemies. — Cuckoos have the usual enemies of all bird life, vermin 

 of every kind, which during the breeding season hunt for and devour 

 all the eggs and young they can find. All the civet-cat tribe, snakes, 

 lizards, and iguanas are inveterate thieves of eggs and young, while 

 even more destructive than these are the birds of the ciow and 

 magpie tribe, which systematically hunt out the nests and devour 



