332 Lord Walden on the Cuculidse 



tail was not even. Dr. Cabanis {t. c. p. 29) suggests that 

 Sonnerat described from a made-up specimen. Until we are 

 better acquainted with the ornithology of the Philippines, it will 

 be best not to hazard an opinion. Unfortunately Sonnerat 

 is not to be trusted. 



C.fiavus, Gm., ex Sonn. Voy. p. 122. t. 81. The original de- 

 scription is by Sonnerat, who gives the Island of Panay as the 

 habitat. But Gmehn first cites " PI. Enl. 814.'^, an original 

 drawing from an individual whose derivation is not known, unless 

 we may assume that it was Sonnerat's specimen. Montbeillard 

 (Hist. Nat. Ois. vi. p. 382) quotes Sonnerat's description word 

 for word. Sonnerat's bird belongs to the group of small grey- 

 breasted, rufous-bellied Cuckoos, which extend throughout the 

 Indian ^Lrchipelago. Until examples are brought together from 

 all localities and compared, the synonymy of the group cannot 

 be deterniined. Prof. Schlegel [t. c.) regards them all as belong- 

 ing to one species. Philippine specimens exist at Leyden ; and 

 Dr. von Martens procured it at Manilla (Journ. f. Orn. 1866, 

 p. 19). 



C. lucidus, Gm,, ex Lath. Syn. ii. pt. 2. p. 528, no. 24, t. 23, 

 from New Zealand [nee Cab. t. c. p. 14). This title applies to 

 the New-Zealand Lam-prococcyx only. 



C. melanoleucus, Gm,, founded on IMontbeillard's description 

 of a specimen sent by Sonnerat from Coromandel, and PI. Enl. 

 872, erroneously referred by Mr. Gray (Gen. B. ii. p. 464) to 

 C. seiratus, Sparrm. Boddaert's title, C. jacohinus, founded on 

 the same plate, takes precedence. I have failed to detect the 

 slightest difference between the plumage of adult birds from 

 South Africa {Coccijstes hypopinariis, Cab. & Heine, t. c. p. 47) 

 and from India and Ceylon. The South-African bird, however, 

 possesses a somewhat stouter bill, and a longer wing and tail. 

 I have compared a large series of Cingalese individuals with 

 specimens from Malabar, Candeish, Simla, and north-eastern 

 India, and have found the Cingalese form slightly smaller in 

 all its dimensions. It is the Ceylon Cuckoo of Latham (Gen. 

 Hist. iii. p. 291). C.pica, Hemp. & Ehrenb., from north-eastern 

 Africa, is doubtfully distinct. 



C. canorus, L., var 7, Gm, ex Besekc, Schr, Berl. Naturf. Ges. 



