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



repeated cry of a Tololio. Now we know, from what has 

 been already said of the habits of this Cuckoo, that it chooses 

 damp places, and hops about from bush to bush on the river- 

 banks ; it was then very natural that the loud mellow notes 

 of the Toloho should reach the ears of a man who was lying 

 only a slight depth underground. Starting out of his 

 lethargy, it was not long before he compi'ehended that lie 

 was not buried very deeply, since the notes of the bird could 

 be recognized ; and so, without waiting for the return of the 

 reptile, which was waiting patiently at the entrance of the 

 cave, he used his hands and nails to such effect that in a 

 little time he saw daylight. He was saved. In recognition 

 of the service, all unconscious and involuntary as it was, 

 which the bird had rendered to their ancestor, his children 

 and grandchildren vowed that neither they nor their descen- 

 dants would ever kill a Toloho ; and so that is why the 

 Paris Museum has one specimen less of the Centropus niada- 

 gascaj'iensis." 



In Malagasy folk-lore there is an amusing fable about this 

 bird and the Takatra, or Brown Stork ■^, in which the former 

 is described as being invited to a feast at the nest of the 

 latter; but he disgracefully repays the hospitality of the 

 Tkkatra by turning him out of house and home and taking 

 possession of it himself. From this fable (which proba- 

 bly embodies some facts as to these birds), it would appear 

 that this Cuckoo, like the Kknkkfotra, has also something of 

 the habits of its European cousin in making use of other 

 birds' nests. Perhaps this habit is also referred to in one 

 of its provincial names of Abilimhbrona, i. e., "Base (or 

 Slavish) bird.^' 



II. The Wide-gaping Birds. — The second Suborder of 

 the Picarise, that of the Fissirostres or Wide-gaping Birds, 

 includes, according to Mr. R. B. Sharpe, twelve families, six 

 of which are represented in Madagascar. These are the 

 Kingfishers, Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, Rollers, Goatsuckers, and 

 Swifts. For the other six, the Jacamars, Puff-birds, Horn- 



* See 'Folk-lore and Folk-tales of Madagascar' (Antananarivo), 

 pp. 113-117. 



