58 Mr. W. Jesse on the 



[?] No. 1112. Cacomantis passerinus. Indian Plaintive 

 Cuckoo. 



I doubt if this bird occurs in Lucknow. Reid apparently 

 never got it. Mr. Adam, as Reid remarked, appeared to 

 imply that the bird not only occurred, but bred there — vide 

 Hume's ' Nests and Eggs/ 1st edition, p. 137 ; but it seems 

 almost certain that a mistake has been made. 



No. 1118. Coccystes jacobin us. Pied Crested Cuckoo. 



Popiy a, Kala Popiya [H .] . Shah-Bulbul [Martiniere boys] . 



Reid seemed to imagine that this bird occurred throughout 

 the year. It may do so, but, if it does, it is strange that 

 so striking an object should have escaped my eye year by 

 year from October to May. I cannot recollect ever seeing 

 it until the beginning of June, or after September, except 

 once — in November 1901. It lays its round glossy blue 

 eggs in Babblers' nests, but, though they have been shown 

 to me, I have never taken them myself. 



No. 1120. Eudynamis honorata. Indian Koel. 



Koil, Koeli [H.]. Quailie [Anglo-Indian boys]. ' 



According to Reid the Koel is a permanent resident, but I 

 fancy that it migrates, at any rate to a very great extent, in the 

 cold weather. " It feeds principally on fruit, being very fond 

 of the small berries of the banian and other Fici" (Reid). 



As the same authority has remarked, more than one male 

 may be seen chasing a female, from which it may be inferred 

 that they do not pair. In some parts of India this bird 

 is called the Brain-fever Bird, a name much more rightly 

 bestowed on Hierococcyx varius. The Koel lays its eggs in 

 the nest of Corvus splendens, and possibly at times in that of 

 C. macrorhynchus. June and July are the months for eggs. 

 I have found 2 Koel's and no Crow's eggs in a nest, 3 Crow's 

 and 2 Koel's, 4 Crow's and 1 Koel's, and so on. Reid 

 records 1 Koel's and no Crow's (3 times), 1 hard-set Crow's 

 and 2 Koel's, 3 hard-set Crow's and 1 Koel's, 1 fresh Crow's 

 and 3 Koel's. Reid argued that this went to prove that the 

 female Koel ejected the Crow's eggs from the nest while 

 depositing her own. I have an open mind on the subject, 



