CENTEOPUS. 239 



names sirhee and lescJienaulti was first published, I give the prefer- 

 ence to the less barbarous of the two. 



Habits, 4-c. This, like its allies, is a Ground-Cuckoo, found chiefly 

 in thickets" or long grass, very shy and rarely seen. It feeds on the 

 ground, chiefly on grasshoppers and other insects, such as beetles 

 and termites, occasionally on lizards. Its flight is very feeble. It 

 breeds in Northern India from May to August, but on the Nilgiria 

 and Malabar coast in March and April, and makes a loose cup- 

 shaped nest of twigs lined with green leaves, in which are laid 

 usually three chalky white eggs, measuring about 1-39 by 1-07. 



Genus CENTROPUS, lUiger, 1811. 



This genus is distinguished from all other members o£ the 

 family by having on the hallux a long nearly straight hind claw, 

 very much like a Lark's. The other claws are but little curved. 

 The tarsus is strong and naked. The bill is deep, moderately large, 

 with the culmen much curved ; the nostrils are partly covered by 

 a membrane. There is a row of bristles above the eye. The wing 

 is short and rounded, the primaries scarcely exceeding the second- 

 aries in length ; the tail is graduated, long and broad. The feathers 

 of the head, neck, and breast are harsh and spinous. Sexes ahke. 



About 30 species, of which 4 occur within our area, are comprised 

 in Centropus, which ranges almost throughout the Ethiopian and 

 Oriental regions, Papua and Australia. 



Keji to the Species. 



a. Under wing-coverts black or grey or 

 mottled. 

 a. Head and body black, 



a". Bill black C. sinensis, p. 239. 



h". Bill green or yellow C. chlororhynchus, p. 242, 



b'. Head and body brown or buff C. andammieiisis, p. 242. 



h. Under wing-coverts chestnut C. bengalensis, p. 243. 



1130. Centropus sinensis. The Common Coucal oy Orow-Pheasavt. 



Pelophilua sinensis, Steph. Gen. Zool. ix, p. 51 (1815). 

 Centropus bubutus, Horsjield, Trans. Linn. Soc.^ xiii, p. 180 (1821). 

 Centropus castanopterus, Stephens, Gen. Zool. xiv, p. 215 (1826). 

 Centropus philippensis, apud Blijth, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 1099 ; xii, 



p. 246 ; xiv, p. 202 ; id. Cat. p. 78 ; Layard, A. M. N. H. (2) xiii, 



p. 450, nee Cuvier. 

 Centropus sinensis, Bhjth, J. A. S. B. xii, p. 247 ; xiv, p. 202 ; id. Cat. 



Add. p. xix ; Shelley, Cat. B. M. xix, p. 343. 

 Centropus rufipennis, apud Blyth, Cat. p. 321 ; Horsf. Sf M. Cat. ii, 



p. 681 ; Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 348 ; id. Ibis, 1872, p. 15 ; Hume,S. F. 



i, p. 173 ; Blyth ^ Wald. Birds Biirm. p. 81 ; Leyge, Birds Ceyl. 



p. 260; Marshall, Ibis, 1884, p. 411 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 132 ; 



Oates in Hume's N, ^ E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 400 ; nee Illiger. 



