14 Dr. T. C. Jerdon's Supplementary Notes 



peninsula, China, &c. by H.fugax, Horsf., oi w{\nc\i flaviventris, 

 Scopoli, radiatus, Grnel., pectoralis, Cabanis, and hyperythrus, 

 Gould, are considered synonyms; and this is probably the species 

 from China alluded to at page 331, Birds of India, vol. i.^ 



206. HiEROCOCCYX NISTCOLOR. 



I obtained this at Darjeeling in 1863, where it is called 

 Ding-pit-pho by the Lepchas. It is, however, very close to the 

 Chinese and Malayan bird mentioned above. 



207. HiEROCOCCYX SPARVERIOIDES. 



One killed lately measured in the flesh 15^ inches in letigth, 

 wing 9, extent 25, tail 8. I found this Cuckoo in great abun- 

 dance on the top of Mount Deobun (above 9000 feet high), near 

 Mussooree, in June, evidently pairing, flying about, pursuing 

 one another, and incessantly uttering their call from sunrise to 

 long after sunset. I have never observed it at any low eleva- 

 tions, contrary to the observations of Dr. Stoliczka, who says he 

 only found it on the lower hills. Blyth discriminated another 

 race allied to this, which he called H. nisoides. I am inclined, 

 from examination of the type specimen, to doubt its distinctness 

 from sparverioides. Gould, in his ' Birds of Asia,' has figured 

 Cuculus strenuus, resembhng this last bird in every point but size, 

 it being larger. It is probably from the Philippines. 



208. PoLYPHASiA NIGRA. (Plate I.) 



This bird stands in Mr. Gray's list as C. passerinus, Vahl, 

 with the synonyms oi flavus, Lesson, not of Gmelin, and pyrom- 

 matus, Hodgson. I believe that C. luguhris, Gray, neglectus, 

 Gray, and sonneratii, apud Gray t, (No. 9019 not 9032 to which 

 is referred the figure in Hardwicke's 'Illustrations' of tenui- 

 rostris), also belong to this race. I described the dark coloration 

 of the South-Indian bird long ago, in my ' Catalogue,' under the 



* The first two synonyms are generally given as the true names of this 

 Cuckoo ; but on reference to Sonnerat's figure, on which these names were 

 founded, it appears to represent a true Cuckoo of the type of C. canorus, 

 and is probably therefore C. ccmoroides. 



t C. sonneratii, as usually adopted, is quite a distinct bird (see no. 202, 

 Birds of India), although the hepatic state of plumage of the present spe- 

 cies is veiy similar to that of Sonnerat's Cuckoo. In this last, the cross 

 bars on the abdomen are much more numerous and narrower. 



