34 Mr. J. Davidson — A Short 



the numerous pairs we watched seemed to be without a nest. 

 The number of eggs or young was generally seven. 



95. Cypselus APus (Liun.). 



The Common Swift, or the form separated as C. pekinensis 

 Swinh., was very abundant on the high cliffs in the Sind 

 Valley from the mouth of the Wangan Valley at Kagan 

 to above Sonamurg. We shot one as early as the 2nd May. 

 They generally flew, however, round the top of the cliffs out 

 of shot. 



96. CucuLUs CANORUS Linn. 



We heard this Cuckoo daily during all the time we were 

 in Kashmir, from the tops of the highest hills down to Kohala 

 (2000 feet). Considering its abundance, we were rather 

 surprised to find so few of its eggs ; in f;ict, we only obtained 

 three: one, normally coloured, on May 31st, in a nest of 

 Pratincola maura ; another, of a uniform pale blue, on 

 June 16th, in the nest of Hodgsonius phoenicuroides ; and a 

 third, normally coloured, on June 27th, in a nest oi Pratincola 

 bicolor. This last was near Garhi, on the Jhelum Eiver. 



97. CucuLiJs SATURATus Hodgs. 



We only met with this Cuckoo at Sonamurg, and there it 

 was not common. Its habit of constantly uttering its cry, 

 which is like that of the Hoopoe twice repeated, revealed its 

 presence in one or two places. We obtained one c^^, which 

 we consider to have belonged to this bird, as one was con- 

 stantly calling from a tree near, and another rose from the 

 ground somewhere near the nest when we discovered it. 

 The egg, perfectly fresh, was placed in the nest of lanthia 

 rufilata, which also contained four slightly incubated eggs 

 of that bird. It was taken on the 10th June, and was a 

 broad oval, hardly differing in the size of the ends, and of a 

 uniform brownish pink, with a few slightly darker spots. 



98. CuCULUS POLIOCEPHALUS Lath. 



This very noisy bird was fairly common from Kagan as 

 far as Sonamurg, in the Sind Valley. It is, however, a late 

 arrival, as we did not hear it till the first week of June. 



