318 PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 



panions a few of the hosts upon which 

 they usually foist off their eggs, I expect 

 that much about their life may be re- 

 vealed to us. 



The Papiya and the Koel are poles 

 asunder in plumage. In the case of the 

 former the sexes are like ; but 

 Coloration male and female Koels have 

 different dresses. The male 

 Koel is altogether black with a bluish- 

 green gloss, a stout bill, and a bright 

 crimson iris. The female is less showy, 

 being of brown body-colour with white 

 spots on head, neck, back, and wings. 

 Its quills and tail are barred with white, 

 with similar bars on the glossy brown 

 surface of the breast and abdomen. The 

 common folk of this country are under 

 the impression that the female is a differ- 

 ent bird, and call it "Tilia-kokil" or the 

 ''Spotted cuckoo" . 



The nestling Koel is born with a black 

 skin. According to Dewar, its earliest 

 feathers are tipped with white or a kind 



