228 CUCULTD.E. 



and thigh-coverts white ; under tail-coverts barred and tipped with 

 white ; tail with the outer feather barred and tipped with white, 

 the bars being broadest towards the inner edges of the shafts ; the 

 penultimate feathers with a few pale spots on their quills ; under 

 wing-coverts greenish black like the body ; quills blackish brown, 

 each feather with a large white blotch on the inner web, forming a 

 diagonal baud across the under surface of the wing : bill black, 

 with the gape and inside of the mouth orange-red : irides brown ; 

 legs and claws black. Total length 10-3 inches, culmen O'S, 

 wing 5, tail 5-7, tarsus 0"65. 



Immature. Slighth' less glossy, of a more violet shade, and with 

 clear white terminal spots to manj' of the feathers irregularly dis- 

 persed over the plumage ; under wing-coverts irregularly barred 

 with white, and the white bar across the quills broader than in the 

 adult : the tail rather more barred with white, the white bars 

 being much more distinct on the outer feathers, and the penultimate 

 ones partially barred near their quills, and all the feathers with 

 white spots at their tips. 



This species varies considerably in the shape of the tail, which is 

 sometimes very much forked, with the long feathers curved out- 

 wards towards their ends, but is sometimes square, the outer 

 feather on each side being always short. The white of the nape is 

 often absent, and the amount of the white spotting of the upper 

 tail-coverts varies greatly. The most constant characters are the 

 white spot and bar on the under surface of the quills, the bars on 

 the under tail-coverts, and the bars on the outer tail-feathers, the 

 latter varying in amount according to age. The immature bird, 

 Cuculas aViopunctatus, Drap., has white spots which vary in number 

 and size, the last to disappear with age being those at the ends of 

 the tail-feathers. The type specimens of C. Ivguhris, Horsf., from 

 Java, and G. dicruroides. Hodgs., from Xepal, are remarkably 

 similar ; and after comparing more than one hundred specimens 

 from Java, Sumatra, Singapore, Tenasserira, Burmah, the Indian 

 Peninsula, and Ceylon, I c^in find no trace of distinctive character. 

 In the specimens from ilalacca there is a tendency to form a rather 

 small race with a square tail (not counting the outer feather) and 

 occasionally a slightly greyer shade on the underparts, characters 

 which are found more constantly in Bornean specimens, while a 

 perfectly similar form occurs in Palawan. 



Hah. The same as that of the genus, with the exception of the 

 islands of Negros, Mindanao, Basilan, and Batchian. 



a. Ad. sk. Java {Horsfield). India Museum. 



(Type of species.) 



b, c, d. Ad. sk. Java. Tweeddale Coll. 



e. Ad. sk. Java {Mt(s. Lu(/d.). Seebohm Coll. 



f, g. 5 ad. sk. W. Java (.4. R. Wallace). 



h, i. Ad. et juv. sk. Lampong, S.E. Sumatra Tweeddale Coll. 



{E. C. Buxton), 

 k, I, m. Ad. sk. Sumatra (C. i?orZ;). Tweeddale Coll. 



«, 0. Ad. sk. Lumbidan (Sir Hugh Loic). R. B. Sharpe, 



Esq. [P.]. 



