186 Major R. F. Meiklejohn on the [Ibia, 



upper paler, wattles blue, casque and tuft very pale brown ; 

 throat black; feet black/' 



" It is among- the fool-hills and the adjacent plains that 

 Guinea-fowl occur — they never range np to mid-altitude 

 (4.000 ft.). 



" These birds may be seen any morning in summer 

 feeding in large flocks out on the open fallow, well out of 

 shot from any cover. They scatter about like farmyard 

 hens, picking up stray corn and tasty insects, but if one turns 

 to approach them in a gradual or unostentatious manner, 

 they edge persistently away, and to 'gallop' them on an 

 active pony is but to test their marvellous powers of 

 sprinting." 



jSTo Guinea-fowl has previously been brought home from 

 southern Arabia. Tlie present example appears, so far as it 

 is possible to form a conclusion from a single isolated spe- 

 cimen, to be referable to the typical Abyssinian race, A^. p. 

 2)t'ilorhyncha^ characterised by ]\Ir. Claude Grant (Ibis, 1915, 

 p. 26), who has made a careful study of all the races of tlie 

 Tufted Guinea-fowl. The range of this race extends from 

 Suakim to northern Abyssinia, and now, if I am correct in 

 my conclusions, across the lied Sea to the highlands of 

 Yemen. It is characterised by its well-feathered neck and 

 large wattles. 



XI. — ^ome Reflections on the Breeding-habits of the Cuckoo 

 (Cuculus canorus). By Major R. F. Meiklejohn *, 

 D.S.O., Royal Warwickshire Regiment, M.B.O.U. 



In the ignorance which still prevails regarding many details 

 of the breeding-habits of the Cuckoo, we have a good object 

 lesson of how well Nature is able to guard her secrets, since, 

 after years of careful and methodical investigation by distin- 

 guished naturalists, comparatively few authentic facts have 

 been established. 



* Major Meiklejohu was wounded and taken prisoner during the retreat 

 from Mous, and was in Germany till quite recently. He sends us this 

 paper from Switzerland, whither he has now been transferred. 



