424 CENTROPODIN/E. 



wings, bright chestnut ; upper tail coverts glossy black, the feathers stiff ; under 

 wing coverts black> crossed with rufous bars. Young birds are much barred, 

 the plumage unglossed and more dusky throughout, as in the other species. 

 Bill black ; irides crimson ; legs and claws black. 



Length. 19 inches ; tail 10 ; wing 7-5 ; tarsus 2*2 ; bill from gape 2-8. 



Hab. The Indo-Burmese Countries to Eastern Bengal. Habits the same 

 as other members of the genus. 



1016. Centrococcyx bengalensis (Gmei.), Waid. y Tram. Zooi. 



Soc. viii. p. 59 ; Hume, Str. F. iii. p. 84; viii. p. 89 ; Oafes, Str. F. x. p. 196; 

 Kelham, Ibis, 1881, p. 395 ; Oates, B. Br. Burm. p. 127. Cuculus benga- 

 lensis, Gm., Syst. Nat. i. p. 412. Centropus bengalensis, Jerd., B. Ind. i. 

 p ; 350, No. 218; Hume, Nests and Eggs Ind. B. p. 144; Blyth, B. Burm. 

 p. 82 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 59; Oates, Str. F. v. p. 146; Hume 

 andDav., Str. F. vi. p. 171 ; Gammie, Str. F. v. p. 385 ; Bingham, Str. F. 

 ix. p. 169. The LESSER COUCAL. 



Whole head, neck and lower plumage black, glossed with purple, the shafts 

 glistening black ; wings, scapulars and back pale-chestnut, the quills tipped 

 with dusky, and the feathers of the back and scapulars, also the coverts, with 

 yellowish shaft-stripes ; rump and upper tail coverts bluish-black; tail black, 

 tipped narrowly with yellowish white ; under wing coverts pale chestnut. 



In winter the plumage above is edged with rufous, and the back and scapu- 

 lars have yellowish shaft-stripes ; the under-surface is barred with black and 

 fulvous, and the tail tipped with yellowish-white. Bill black ; irides brownish 

 yellow ; legs and feet plumbeous. 



Length. 14'$ to 15-5 inches; tail 7-5 to 8'5 ; wing 5-3 to 6'5 ; tarsus r8 ; 

 bill from gape 1*3. 



Hab. Malay Peninsula, the Indo-Burmese Countries and Arracan. Spread 

 throughout most parts of India. Occurs on the Eastern Ghauts, Mysore, 

 Central India, Upper and Lower Bengal, and in the sub-Himalayan region. In 

 British Burmah it is also widely spread, It has also been found in Karennee. 

 -Gates says it is more abundant in the grassy plains of southern Pegu than 

 elsewhere, and is also found in considerable numbers in Arracan and in 

 Tenasserim. It has a preference for grass lands. Nidification and habits like 

 other members of the genus. 



Gen. TacCOClia, Lesson. 



Bill short, or of moderate length, much compressed ; culmen arched. 

 Culmen or gonys straight or slightly concave ,- nostrils bordered on their upper 

 edge with a tuft of bristly feathers ; 3rd and 4th quills nearly equal and longest ; 

 tail long, graduated ; plumage of the head and superciliary region bristly, of 

 the body stiffish. 



