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in a cage began to eat locusts an hour or two after its 

 capture, and in a few da5'S took to raw meat and 

 chicken lights, on which it was thriving well, when it 

 unfortunately escaped. As this bird was caught in 

 my kitchen, which I suppose he entered to pick up 

 scraps, it is probable that all of these birds eat a 

 certain amount of offal and dead animals, in addition 

 to their ordinary diet of live food. 



(2) Of the genus Coccystes we possess one species, 

 C. glandarms, the Great Spotted Cuckoo, a crested 

 bird rather smaller than the Coucal, greyish-brown to 

 dark brown above with white underparts and wing 

 markings. It is essentially arboreal in its haunts, 

 and in this country is, I think, only a winter visitor, 

 at any rate I have seen it only during those months. 

 Its chief food seems to consist of large insects, 

 though according to the natives, the "Saling," as 

 they call it, also kills and eats Doves, but this one can 

 hardly credit, though no doubt j^oung birds are often 

 included in its menu. Its note is a harsh " kark- 

 kark." 



(3) We have about four species of the genus Ctcaihis 

 but only one is reall}^ common, namely C. giclaris, the 

 Lineated Cuckoo, a bird very like the European 

 Cuckoo, from which it differs only in its slightly 

 larger size and in the markings of the outer tail- 

 feathers, which in C. g7ilaris are completely barred 

 with white, while in C. canorus this barring is in- 

 complete. Its note is exactly like that of our bird, as 

 are also its habits. Other Gambian species are C. 

 cafer, Levaillant's Cuckoo, an inhabitant of nearly 

 the whole of Africa, C. cla??iosus, the Black Cuckoo, 

 and possibly also C. canorus, as a winter visitor only. 



(4) The beautiful Golden Cuckoos are represented 

 here by two species, both rather rare, Chyysococcyx 

 smaragdi7ieus, the Emerald Cuckoo, and C. cupreus, 

 the Gilded Cuckoo. Of the former the cock is a 



