CENTBOPUS. 24T 



confined to low elevations ; also China, Siam, and the Malay 

 Peninsula and islands. 



Hume, who has been followed by several writers, has divided 

 the Indian Coucals into three species thus distinguished : — 



Interscapulars black ; wing 7 to 8. 1. C. rnfipennis : Indian Peninsula 



and Ceylon. 

 Interscapulars chestnut. 



Wino- 7-3 to 8-25 2. C intermedius : Eastern Beiigal 



Assam, Burma, kc. 



Wino' 9 to 9-5 3. C maximus : Sind and Northern 



India. 



And unquestionably these are three well-marked races. The differ- 

 ences between C. intermedius and C. maximus are, however, not so 

 clear as was at first supposed. I find Delhi and Sikhim male speci- 

 mens, referred to the latter by Hume, with wings of 8-3, whilst wings 

 of Tenasserim males measure 7-75; and as Manipur birds are inter- 

 mediate in size, I regard this as one of the numerous instances in 

 which there is a diminution of size to the southward. The dis- 

 tinction of the Peninsular and Ceylonese form I should accept, 

 but that several South Indian and Ceylonese specimens in the 

 British Museum have the interscapulary area chestnut as in 

 Burmese birds. I therefore agree with Shelley in uniting all 

 these races. I should add that the form called C. intermedius by 

 Hume is identical with the Chinese bird C. sinensis, and that the 

 name C. rufipennis, Illiger, does not belong to this species, but to 

 the Philippine C. viridis : those who require a distinct term for 

 the Indian Peninsular bird should call it C. castanopterus. C. eury- 

 cercus, with a broad blue tail, 12-13 inches long, from the Malay 

 Peninsula and Sumatra, appears to me distinct from C sinensis, 

 though Shelley has united them. 



Habits, &fc. This is one of the common birds of India. It is 

 found in cultivated ground, waste land, or bush-jungle, less com- 

 monly in forest ; it is frequently seen in bushes on the banks of 

 stream-beds and in hedge-rows. Its flight is slow and laboured. 

 It feeds on the ground on insects, and occasionally on lizards and 

 small snakes. It may often be seen walking on che ground, and 

 both on the ground and on trees it has a trick of raising its large 

 tail over its back. It has a peculiar sonorous call like lioop, hoop, 

 Jioop, repeated slowly several times. It breeds chiefly in June, 

 July, and August, earlier in Southern India, and makes a huge 

 globular nest of twigs, green and dry leaves, and coarse grass, 

 generally, but not invariably, with a lateral entrance, and placed 

 in a thick and often thorny bush or tree. The eggs are broad 

 regular ovals, white and covered with a chalky layer; they are 

 usually three in number, and measure about 1-44 by 1"16. 



Coucals are regarded as a great delicacy by Indian Mahomedans^ 

 and by some Hindoo castes. 



VOL. III. 



