CENTROCOCCYX. 401 



seen projecting outside the nest. When in this position the bird 

 is about as defenceless as the traditional Ostrich which hid its 

 head in the sand; but in Australia the Goucal (G. phananus) 

 manages these things far better. There, we are told : 



" The nest, which is placed in the midst of a tuft of grass, is of 

 a large size, composed of dried grasses, and is of a domed form 

 with two openings, through one of which the head of the female 

 protrudes while sitting, and her tail through the other." 



On the other hand, the Southern Chinese Coucal, which Swinhoe 

 declares to be identical with ours, goes a step further and gets rid 

 of the dome altogether. "I have never found," remarks Mr. 

 Swiuhoe, " the nest domed as is that of C. viridis. It is shaped 

 like a long narrow basket, made almost entirely of fresh grass, 

 suspended in the centre of a thick hedge, and usually contains 

 four pure white eggs, ovate and not roundish as those of its small 

 ally. This Crow-Pheasant is a resident bird in South China, 

 ranging a few hundred miles above Foochow, not quite so far 

 north, I think, as Xingpo." 



But even in India the nest is not always domed ; I have seen 

 fifty nests at least, and ah 1 were so, but my friend Mr. F. E. 

 Blewitt, a most accurate observer, gives me the following note on 

 the subject: " Breeds, as far as I have been able to ascertain, 

 from June to August. My experience goes to prove that it does 

 not always, as related by Jerdon, select ' dense and inaccessible 

 thickets ' for its nest. I have found it high up on tamarind and 

 other trees fully exposed to view ; the only difficulty was in getting 

 to the nests, which generally were placed at the further end of a 

 branch, between two or three forks. The nest is large in size, 

 formed of various kinds of twigs and leaves of the dhak, jamoon, 

 siris, neem, &c. Xo other material was used in the nests. The 

 nest in structure is not always dome-shaped. Of six nests, two 

 only were domed at the top ; the other four, formed of twigs and 

 leaves, were simply nests about the size of a very large round 

 plate, with a depression in the centre for the eggs. I may add 

 that the thickness at the base and sides, of the twigs and leaves 

 which are both used in the building of the nest, varies from 8 to 

 10 inches. I did not find more than three eggs in any one nest, 

 though I have reason to believe that four is the maximum number. 

 They are pure white and in shape oval. The exterior of the 

 shell is, as it were, covered with a soft chalk-like substance, easily 

 scratched with the nail.'' 



Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remarks on the breeding 

 of this bird in Monghyr : " Lays in June and August ; eggs, four 

 in number, oval, measuring from T30 to 1'47 inch in length, 

 and from T09 to 1-21 inch in breadth ; colour, pure white ; nest 

 placed in dense trees, a neat but loose structure of twigs, domed, 

 and with aperture in the side, lined with dry leaves." 



Dr. Jerdon states that " it makes a large nest of twigs or grasses 

 of green flag-leaves domed at the top, and the aperture on the 

 side, and lined with dried leaves. It is usually placed in the most 



YOL. II. 26 



