Birds from Britisli East Africa. 515 



The Black Cuckoo was seen occasionally at Kallima Theki, 

 but it was very shy and only one example was shot ; it was 

 invariably seen amongst the small trees fringing the sides of 

 the dongas. It has a loud harsh note. 



143. CoccvsTEs jACOBiNus. Black-and-Whitc Cuckoo. 

 Coccystes jacobinus Cab. & Heine. 



Iris dark brown; bill brown; feet black. 



This was the commonest Cuckoo at Theki, and might often 

 be seen near our camp, though it was always rather wild and 

 unapproachable. I have no note of seeing it anywhere else. 



144. Coccystes CAFER. Le Vaillant's Cuckoo. 

 Coccystes cafer Sharpe. 



Iris brown ; bill and legs dark brown. • 



Only seen twice, on the Kapiti Plains ; both birds, which 



were females, contained the remains of caterpillars in the 



stomach. 



145. Centropus superciliosus, White-eyebrowed Lark- 

 heeled Cuckoo. 



Centropus superciliosus (II. & E.). 



The White-eyebrowed Lark-heeled Cuckoo is only found 

 in the dense scrub and jungle fringing the edges of rivers 

 and lakes, amongst which it crawls about searching for food. 

 I met with it all along the Thika and also at Naivasha ; it 

 is nowhere rare, but not very often seen on account of its 

 skulking habits. The note is one of the most noticeable to 

 be heard in East Afiica, and sounds like water being poured 

 out of an inverted narrow -necked bottle. These birds run 

 at a great pace, like a Rail. I successfully brought one 

 home alive ; it was the first living specimen of C. superciliosus 

 to reach England : from the day that it was caught it was 

 perfectly tame and a most easy bird to keep, feeding vora- 

 ciously on insects, fruit, sopped bread, &c. In their wild 

 state this species is probably to a certain extent carnivorous : 

 mine prefers a dead bird or a mouse to anything else; and 

 the sharp, strong bill is well adapted for killing small 

 birds. An account of my tame Centropus appeared in the 

 * Avicultural Magazine ' for February 1909. 



