220 Rev, J. Sibree, Jr., on the 



shell by striking them on a stone. From tbis liabit comes 

 its name of Famakisifotra, " Snail-breaker/' and Famaki- 

 akbra, " Shell-breaker," 



The two species of Cuckoo found in Madagascar are much 

 more common than are most of the Couas^ and are plentiful 

 all over the forest-regions of the island. 



The Kankafotra, the Grey-headed Cuckoo {Cuculus polio- 

 cephalus), comes up into the upper plateaux of the interior as 

 the warm season approaches (as also do some of the Rollers 

 and other birds), and its monotonous but not unpleasiug cry 

 of kow-kow, kow-kow, may be heard in all parts of the woods, or 

 indeed wherever there are trees, all day long. The Malagasy 

 make its arrival a signal for clearing their ground for plant- 

 ing the later crop of rice. In some of the native Hain-tlny, or 

 Oratorical Adornments, the Kank&,Potra is said to manova ny 

 taona, i. e., *^ to change/' or rather " to announce the change 

 of the year." Its various names seem to be all more or less 

 descriptive of its note, like the name of our English species 

 of Cuckoo. " It keeps its note with only slight variations 

 throughout the rainy season (unlike the English Cuckoo). 

 It lays its eggs in the nest of the Madagascar Lark {Alauda 

 hova) ; they are white, speckled with irregular spots " (Mr, 

 Cory's notes) , Mr. Baron also remarks : " I have twice 

 found its egg in other birds' nests, and have in my possession 

 one which I took from the nest of one of the Sun-birds (Nec- 

 tarinia souimanga), along with three eggs of the latter." It 

 is a solitary and shy bird, never seen but alone, except in 

 the pairing-season ; it has a sober livery of grey and brown 

 tints. 



The remaining bird of this family, the Tolbho, or Lark- 

 heeled Cuckoo (Centropus toulou), is of a dark slaty-black 

 colour, with rufous wings and extremely long tail. The wings 

 show warm red in colour as the bird flies from tree to tree. 

 It also comes up into the higher regions of the island, and is 

 very common in the coast forests and plains*. Its name of 



* Mr. Cory tells me : " I have shot grey slaty-coloured specimens of the 

 Toloho Cuckoo on the coast, but have not seen such up here in the interior. 

 I dare say there are two varieties, and am taking skins to England for 



