Cuckoo and its Indian Allies. 357 



except on the wings ; the tail is very similai' to that of the 

 adult, but there are a few broken rufous bars on it. 



In the second stage the whole upper plumage, the wings, 

 and the tail become regularly and finely barred with pale 

 rufous ; the black bars on the lower plumage become 

 narrower and more sharply defined, and the nuchal spot is 

 still present, either as a spot, or indicated by one or more 

 white feathers. 



The transition from the first stage to the second is very 

 gradual, and so it is also from the second stage to the adult 

 plumage. In many birds as soon as the second stage of 

 plumage is donned traces of the adult plumage begin to 

 make their appearance, generally by the acquisition of ashy 

 patches on the upper parts. The nuchal spot is retained 

 till some such ashy patches appear, and is then lost. 



Cuculus striatus similarly passes through two stages of 

 plumage, in both of which the white nuchal spot is absent. 



In the nestling or first stage the upper plumage is blackish, 

 the feathers of the wing marked with rufous, the others 

 margined with white. The chin and throat are entirely 

 black, occasionally with a trace of white here and there, but 

 with nothing approaching to bars. The remaining lower 

 parts are white broadly banded with black. The tail is 

 similar to that of the adult, but with some rufous on the 

 edges of the feathers in somewhat older birds. 



In the second stage the whole upper plumage, with the 

 tail, is blackish, barred throughout with dark rufous (not 

 pale rufous), and the throat becomes deeply tinged with 

 rufous. The white margins of the upper plumage are cast, 

 and the black bands on the lower plumage become very 

 broad. 



In Cuculus poliocephalus the young pass through three 

 distinct stages : — 



The first stage is exactly the same as that of C. striatus, 

 there being, equally with that species, no nuchal spot. 



In the second stage the white nuchal spot appears and a 

 half-collar of white on the hind neck. In other respects the 

 plumage in this stage is very similar to that of the first stage 

 of C. canorus. 



