410 Mr. John Whitehead on 



If so, the Philippine and Palawan species must be very 

 different. The " Phow/' as the Sulus call this bird, from its 

 loud call " phow," was plentiful in Palawan when I landed 

 in the middle of June, and might be heard many times in the 

 day, uttering its loud call, especially when a gun was fired or 

 a large branch fell. This habit I have observed in the 

 Argus Pheasant, both birds seeming to delight in hearing a 

 great noise, as though it afforded them pleasure. 



The Palawan Cuckoo passes all day in the tops of the high 

 jungle-trees (often quite out of shot), seldom going amongst 

 the outside branches, but preferring to hop about well under 

 shelter from sun and Hawks. Towards evening, however, 

 the male frequents more open spots on the borders of the 

 forest, settling on low trees, where he remains until almost 

 dark, uttering loud cries. This bird is very tenacious of 

 life and requires a severe wound to bring it down. I never 

 heard or shot an adult bird after the middle of August, 

 ■when it no doubt migrates to Borneo and other islands, [as 

 most of the birds in Labuan are seen after September during 

 the N.E. monsoon. 



The most interesting fact in the history of the " Phow " is 

 the peculiar plumage of the young bird. The young of both 

 sexes are black, like the adult male. The only signs of the 

 female plumage in one young female were on the secondaries, 

 which, on the inside o£ the wing, were slightly barred with 

 brown. Another young female had two or three brown 

 feathers on the back, the wings being dull black. Why 

 should the young birds not follow the general rule and have 

 the plumage of the female ? I do not know of another case, 

 where the sexes vary in plumage, that the young take the 

 plumage of the male *. Why should the young birds not 

 follow the general rule and take the plumage of the female, or 

 have a plumage distinct from that of both parents ? The answer 

 to this riddle appears to be that the " Phow '' lays its eggs 

 in the nest of the Yellow-mottled Mynah [Graculajavanensis] . 

 The young Cuckoo, being black, does not differ from the 

 young Mynah, and so the deception is carried on until the 



* [There is another case knowD in Tadorna variegata, Cf. Sclater, 

 P. Z. S. 1866, p. 149.— Edd.] 



