338 BIRDS OK INDIA. 



This is a diarminir cjroup of very (liminutivo (cuckoos, clad in 

 resplendent golden-green or purple metallic colours. They are 

 natives of Africa, India, and Malayana, extending to Australia. 



211. Chrysococcyx Hodgson!, ]\I(X)re. * 



HoRSF., Cat. 1029— C. chnlcites, apud Blyth, Cat. 355 — 

 C. smaragdinus, Blyth — Cue. Malayanus, Grx\y, Gen. Birds, 2, 

 pi. 117 — Trogon nuiculatus, Gmel., after BiiowN, III, Ind. Zool., 

 pi. 13, — Angphn, Lepch. — C. lucidus, apud Jerdon 2nd Suppl., 

 Cat. 225 bis. 



The Emerald Cuckoo. 



Descr.— Above brilliant emerald-green with a rich golden gloss ; 

 beneath white, with cross-bars of shining green ; tail, with the outer 

 feathers barred with white externnlly. 



Bill yellow, tipped dusky ; irides red-brown ; feet reddish- 

 cinereous. 



Length 6^ to 7 inches ; wing A^ ; tail 3 ; bill at front f ; tarsus ^. 



Some specimens, smaller and more bronzed, are supposed to be 

 females. 



The young bird is dingy sliining greenish, sometimes barred with 

 rufous, above, especially on the tail; beneath whitish, with dusky 

 greenish bars throughout. One, in the rufous phase, has the 

 upper parts rufous, barred with rather dull green; under parts white, 

 banded throughout with dusky-greenish ; bill blackish-yellow at the 

 base. Another, has the head and nape chesnut, the back coppery, 

 the tail with rufous bands, and the under-parts barred. 



This very lovely Cuckoo is rare in India, but more common in the 

 Burmese provinces. It has been procured rarely in Central India. 

 It is also found in the Himalayas and in Ceylon. I procured 

 it only once near Darjeeling at about 4,000 feet of elevation. 

 Nothing is recorded of its habits ; but the one which I shot had eaten 

 insects. The Australian C. lucidus (which it much resembles, but 

 has the lower bands closer,) is said to deposit its single e^g in the 

 nest of the Malurus and Acanthiza; and it is remarkable that the 

 egg is generally deposited in a domed nest with a very small hole 

 for entrance. In New Zealand, however, it is said to select the 



