Descriptive List of the Cominon Birds 



The voice of this bird must be famihar to 

 many residents in India, it sounds like a stone 

 skimming over ice, and hence is known as the 

 ice-bird. 



127. Caprimulgus macrurus : Horsfield's 

 Nightjar. (F. 1093), (J. no), (+I.II.) 



A large edition of No. 126. Its chuk^ chuk^ 

 chuk is not unlike the sound made by tapping 

 a plank with a hammer. 



7 he Cuckoos^ 1 28-1 3 1 



This large family falls into two classes — the 

 parasitic and the non-parasitic — both classes 

 being represented in India. 



The European cuckoo is very abundant in 

 the Himalayas, but is rarely seen or heard in 

 the plains. 



128. Hierococcyx varius : The Common 

 Hawk-Cuckoo — the Brain-fever bird of Anglo- 

 Indians. (F. 1 109), (J. 205), (—III, but with 

 a tail 6 inches long.) 



Every Anglo-Indian is familiar with the 

 crescendo shriek — brain-fever, brain- fever, brain 

 FEVER — of this bird, which is reiterated with 

 such " damnable persistency " at the begin- 

 ning of the hot weather. This bird is exceed- 

 ingly common in the United Provinces. It is 

 less abundant in other parts of India. It does 

 169 



