350 BTRbS OF INDIxV. 



it makes its way out at the opposite side of the tree. When 

 seen in tolerably open ground, with only a few trees or bushes 

 about, it is easily caught, being a stupid bird and of slow flight, 

 and a horseman will easily ride it down in the open plain. It has 

 a loud deep sonorous call, like whoof, whoot, whoot, repeated slowly 

 several times in succession. It is said to inflate its throat to a 

 great degree whilst uttering this sound, at the same time bending 

 down the head and elevating the tail. The young bird, Mr. Blyth 

 remarks, almost constantly repeats a strange hoarse sound like a 

 person choking, or sort of guk-kop-hop. When alighting on a 

 branch of a tree, and sometimes when it alights on the ground, it 

 raises its tail over its back. It makes a laro-e nest of twigs, or 

 grasses, or green flag-leaves, domed at the top, and the aperture on 

 the side, and lined with dried leaves. It is usually placed in the 

 most dense and inaccessible thickets. The eggs are two to five in 

 number, pure white and oval. Burgess says that the exterior 

 of the shell is very soft, and of a chalky texture, easily getting 

 scratched or stained. This, as Mr. Blyth remarks, shows an aflinity 

 to the eggs of Crotophaga, which are white, rough and chalky 

 externally ; but if this layer be detached, the egg is shewn to 

 be deep blue. It breeds from January to July, according to 

 the locality. 



A closely allied species, differing chiefly in its larger size and in 

 the width of its tail-featliers, occurs in Malacca ; C. eurycercus, A. 

 Hay ; and another from Ceylon, C. chlororhynclios, Blyth, is 

 remarkable for its bill of a greenish-yellow color and larger than 

 in its congeners. 



218. Centropus viridis, Scopoli. 



Cuculus, apud Scopoli — Blyth, Cat. 387 — Horsf. Cat. 1002 — 

 C. bengalensis, Gmelin, apud. Jerdon, Suppl. Cat. 231 bis — and 

 C. lepidus, HoRSF. apud Jerdon, 2nd Suppl. Cat. — C. afflnis, 

 HoRSF. — C. tolu. Baffles — C. pumilus. Lesson — C. dimidiatus, 

 Blyth. — C. pygma^us, Hodgson — C. rectunguis, Strickland 

 — Polophilus Lathaini;, Leach. ^ 



