THE KOEL 



jA NGLO-INDI ANS frequently confound the koel 

 / ^ with the brain-fever bird. There is certainly 



/ ^ some excuse for the mistake, for both are 

 cuckoos and both exceedingly noisy crea- 

 tures ; but the cry of the koel {^Eudynamis honorata) 

 bears to that of the brain-fever bird or hawk-cuckoo 

 {Hierococcyx variiis) much the same relation as the 

 melody of the organ-grinder does to that of a full 

 German band. Most men are willing to offer either the 

 solitary Italian or the Teutonic gang a penny to go into 

 the next street, but, if forced to choose between them, 

 select the organ-grinder as the lesser of the two evils. 

 In the same way, most people jfind the fluty note of the 

 koel less obnoxious than the shriek of the hawk-cuckoo. 



The latter utters a treble note, which sounds like 

 " Brain fever." This it is never tired of repeating. It 

 commences low down the musical scale and then as- 

 cends higher and higher until you think the bird must 

 burst. But it never does burst. When the top note 

 is reached the exercise is repeated. 



The koel is a bird of many cries. As it does not, like 

 the brain-fever bird, talk English, its notes are not easy 

 to reproduce on paper. Its commonest call is a cres- 

 cendo kuil, kuil^ kuil, from which the bird derives its 

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