THE RUFOUS-BELLIED CUCKOO. Ill 



Burmah ; and Dr. Jerdon, indeed, states that it does occur in Burmah and 

 Malayana. I am not, however, satisfied that Dr. Jerdoii wrote from his 

 own knowledge, and therefore I do not include it in the present work. 

 This species is larger than H. nisicolor, and the under surface from the 

 breast downwards is barred, not streaked. The wing measures about 8 

 inches in length. 



Genus CACOMANTIS, Mutter. 



495. CACOMANTIS THRENODES. 

 THE RUFOUS-BELLIED CUCKOO. 



Cacomantis threnodes, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. iv. p. 19 ; Wold. Trans. Zool. Soc. 

 viii. p. 54; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi. p. 158; Hume, S.F. viii. p. 89; Binyliam, 

 S. F. ix. p. 167 ; Kelham, Ibis, 1881, p. 391 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 193. Poliphasia 

 tenuirostris (Gray), apud Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 335. Polyphasia rufiventris, 

 Jerd. Ibis, 1872, p. 15. Cacomantis passerinus (Vahfy, apud Bl. $ Wald. 

 B. Burin, p. 80. Ololygon tenuirostris (Gray), apud Hume, S. F. iii. p. 80. 

 Cacomantis rufiventris, Armstrong, S. F. iv. p. 312 ; Wardlaw Ramsay, Ibis, 

 1877, p. 458 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. p. 587. Cacomantis tenuirostris, 

 David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 62. 



Description. Male. The whole head and neck all round and the upper 

 breast clear ashy ; back, scapulars, coverts and wings brown, overspread 

 with a green gloss ; a white patch on the inner webs of the quills ; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts dark ashy, most of the feathers tipped paler ; tail 

 dark brown, tipped with white ; the central feathers notched with white on 

 both webs, the others barred with white on the inner webs ; lower breast, 

 abdomen, vent, under tail-coverts, sides of the body and under wing- 

 coverts rufous ; some males have the rufous extending up to the throat. 



Females, as far as my experience goes, do not assume the plumage of the 

 male. The whole upper plumage, wing-coverts and tail are ferruginous, 

 closely barred with black ; the whole lower plumage is rufescent white, 

 closely and finely barred with brown ; the wings are brown, with some 

 broken rufous bars on the outer webs. 



Young birds are like the females, but the head, neck, throat and breast 

 are streaked, not barred, with brown. 



Iris pale yellow ; upper mandible dark horn ; lower mandible brownish 

 orange, except the tip, which is brown; feet brownish yellow or deep 

 yellow ; the irides are sometimes brown and occasionally crimson. 



Length 9 inches, tail 4'9, wing 4*4, tarsus '7, bill from gape '9. The 

 female is of the same size or rather larger. 



Birds from Pegu have the wing varying from 4 to 4'6 inches in length ; 



