Birds of Lucknoiv. 57 



activity on the ground, changing the scene of its operations 

 every minute or so, while at intervals its familiar call — 

 chuk, chuk, chuk, — slowly and monotonously repeated, 

 'is a welcome and pleasing addition' to the 'voices of the 

 night/ " — G. Reid. I have nothing further to add beyond 

 that I have not found the bird nearly so common as Reid 

 seems to have done. 



No. 1104. Cuculus canorus. Cuckoo. 



I have never met with the European Cuckoo in Lucknow, 

 though the Rev. Harry Menzies, the Civil Chaplain, on one 

 occasion told me that he had heard, it at the beginning of 

 the hot weather. The late George Reid came across it on 

 two occasions — once amidst the ruins of the Bailey Guard 

 in the Residency grounds, apparently in the spring, and 

 again on the 29th of May, at a spot two miles to the north 

 of the city. 



No. 1105. ^Cuculus saturatus. Himalayan Cuckoo. 



In the "Birds" of the ' Fauna of British India' this 

 species is recorded as having " been shot in the cold season 

 at Lucknow." Beyond this I can find no other instance 

 of its having occurred here. 



['?] No. 1107. *Cuculus micropterus. Indian Cuckoo. 



In the early spring of 1895 I shot a bird in the Martiniere 

 College park, which at the time I identified with the present 

 species. Unfortunately the skin has been lost, and as I was 

 only just commencing the study of Indian birds, and, further- 

 more, as I have never come across it again, I mark it with a 

 query. 



No. 1109. Hierococcyx varius. Common Hawk-Cuckoo. 



Popiya [H.]. Brain-fever Bird [Anglo-Indian boys] . 



I think that the Common Hawk-Cuckoo remains all the 

 year round, but of this I am not quite sure. It commences 

 its delightful (?) call early in January and stops it at the 

 beginning of the cold weather. On March 23, 189G, I found 

 an egg, which I am morally certain belonged to this bird, in 

 the nest of Argya malcohui. 



