Malayan Ornithology. 391 



it was very like the cuck-oo ! cuck-oo ! of our well-known 

 English species. 



I once, during September, shot a specimen of C. micro- 

 pterus near Cluny, Singapore. 



HiERococcYX ruGAX (Horsf.). The Hawk Cuckoo. 



Though common, I believe, in India, it certainly is not so in 

 Malayana; I only met with it once, viz. in November 1877, 

 at Tanglin, Singapore. During the early part of the month 

 a great many birds of different sorts flew into our barracks, 

 and were caught by the soldiers. During one week I had 

 brought alive to me three Sparrow-hawks {Accipite?- virgatus), 

 a Scops Owl [Scops lempiji), and a most beautiful specimen of 

 this Hawk-Cuckoo, all caught in the barrack-rooms. It was 

 so like a Hawk in its general appearance that, on first seeing 

 it, and not having before met with the species, for a minute 

 I thought it to be one ; but, on close inspection, the feeble 

 beak and feet disclosed its true character. It was an imma- 

 ture female, and had been feeding on seeds and vegetable 

 matter. 



I saw a specimen of this bird, shot by Mr. Davison^s col- 

 lector on Gunong Pulei, Johore, during August. 



Cacomantis threnodes. Cab. The Rufous- bellied Cuckoo. 



Plentiful both throughout the Straits Settlements and the 

 interior of the peninsula. I got it in Perak, Penang, Ma- 

 lacca, and Singapore; in the last-mentioned place it was 

 quite common, though not often noticed, owing to its small 

 size, plain colours, and habit of keeping, as a rule, to trees 

 of dense foliage. It has a most peculiar, monotonous and 

 rather plaintive cry, which I seldom noticed during the heat 

 of the day, though often towards dusk several birds could be 

 heard at the same time, frequently continuing their cries 

 right through the night. 



Such was also the case in Hong Kong, where one fre- 

 quented a tree close to my quarters, and nightly uttered its 

 strange notes, sometimes for hours without cessation. These 

 consist of a series of loud and very clear whistles, uttered 

 in a descending scale, and terminating with a shake or trill, 



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