i 
. CUCULUS SMARAGDINEUS. 152i 
__ bird has a very loud, harsh note, and is more shy than the generality 
_ of Cuckoos ; it is active, remaining but a short time in the same spot ; 
it feeds on caterpillars ; it visits this part of the country periodically, 
disappearing during the winter months.” Mr. Buckley states that it 
was a common species throughout Bamangwato and the Transvaal, 
where he says that its note may be heard almost any time of the day 
or night. Mr. Andersson writes :—“I first observed this species in 
the neighbourhood of the River Okavango, but only very sparingly ; 
and the few individuals, which there came under my notice were so 
excessively wild and wary that I only succeeded in bagging some 
after an immense deal of trouble and smart shooting. They were 
invariably perched on lofty trees, where they uttered loud cries, which 
were my only guide to their whereabouts ; and before I got near they 
would leave their perches and dart with lightning speed through the 
neighbouring thickets. They were wild shots these! On a subse- 
quent occasion I observed a flock of fully a dozen of these Cuckoos 
creating a desperate hubbub, on the 21st of December, at Objimbin- 
que. I have also obtained specimens of this Cuckoo from Lake 
Ngami.” Senor Anchieta has also procured it at Biballa in Mossa- 
medes. ‘ . 
Adult male.—Above glossy greenish black, with a slight shade of 
dull indigo on the interscapulary region; quills brown, the pri- 
maries whitish near the base of the inner web, where there are re- 
mains of brownish bars, the innermost secondaries greenish black 
like the back; tail greenish black, tipped with white, all the feathers 
more or less inclining to brown on the inner webs ; under surface of 
body black, with a slight greenish gloss, not so glossy as the back, 
some of the under tail-coverts tipped with brownish white ; bill 
black ; feet yellow, claws black; iris dark brown. Total length, 
12 inches; culmen, 0:95; wing, 7.2; tail, 6-2, tarsus, 0°75. 
Fig. Levaill. Ois. d’Afr. v. pls. 204, 205. 
138. CucuLUSs sMARAGDINEUS. Emerald Cuckoo. 
Chalcites smaragdineus, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 251. 
The Emerald Cuckoo of Southern Africa has by many people been 
considered to be a distinct species from the bird inhabiting Western 
Africa, and was called C. splendidus by the late Mr. G. R. Gray, but 
Go 2A een? 6 
