152 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
The Hawk-Cuckoo feeds both on fruit and insects, and 
is frequently in Bengal, at any rate, reared as a cage-bird, 
but it always knocks itself about to the utter ruin of its 
plumage, and cannot be called a desirable pet. It should 
be fed on satoo, fruit and insects, and kept away from 
other birds, as these have the greatest dislike to it on 
account of its suspicious appearance. 
THE CoucaL oR Crow-PHEASANT (Centropus sinensis). 
This is a very different bird from the parasitic Cuckoos 
above dealt with, and lives a most irreproachable life as 
far as attending to its parental duties is concerned. It 
is a big bird, over a foot and a half long, with a powerful 
bill and rather long legs, the inner hind toe being furnished 
with a long straight claw like a Lark’s, whence the term 
*‘Lark-heeled’’ often applied to Cuckoos of this type. 
Its wings are short and round, and its tail very long ; the 
plumage is harsh and wiry, and the bird’s general appear- 
ance quite justifies the name popularly given to it. It is 
known in Hindustani as Mahoka. 
Cock and hen are alike in colour, being glossy blue-black 
with bright chestnut wings, black bills and feet, and 
bright red eyes. The young in first plumage have grey 
eyes, but vary a great deal in colour, some being dull 
editions of the parents, and others quite different. In 
these latter, the black parts of the plumage are closely 
barred with white and the wings barred with black. 
Such birds are always bigger than the others, and may 
be, as Jerdon says, the hens, since in this bird the hen is 
rather larger than the cock. But if this is so, it is 
curious that all the birds in a brood are either hens or 
