118 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



peninsula of India, Ceylon, the Malay peninsula, Siam, China and Cochin 

 China, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippine Islands. 



This handsome Cuckoo is generally seen singly or in pairs in thick 

 jungles, especially those in which bamboos form the chief portion of the 

 vegetation. It is entirely arboreal, feeding on caterpillars. Capt. Feilden 

 found the egg of this Cuckoo at Thayetmyo in the nest of a Quaker- 

 Thrush ; it was very round and pale blue. 



501. COCCYSTES JACOBINUS. 



THE CRESTED PIED CUCKOO. 



Cuculus jacobinus, Bodd. Tabl. PL Enl. p. 53. Cuculus melanoleucos, Gm. 

 Syst. Nat. i. p. 416 ; Wold. Ibis, 1869, p. 332. Coccystes melanoleucus, 

 Jerd. B. 2nd. i. p. 339. Coccystes jacobinus, Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 137 ; 

 Bl. B. Burm. p. 81 ; Legge, Birds Ceylon, p. 246 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 89. Oxy- 

 lophus jacobinus, Hume, S. F. iii. p. 81. 



Description. Male and female. Whole upper plumage black glossed 

 with green, the wings rather browner ; tail black, broadly tipped with white 

 except on the centre feathers, where the tips are very narrow ; the base of 

 the primaries white ; sides of the head black ; whole lower plumage and 

 sides of the neck white ; under wing-coverts white tipped with black. 



Iris reddish brown; eyelids greyish brown; bill black; mouth flesh- 

 colour ; feet lead-colour ; claws horn-colour. 



Length 13 inches, tail 6'8, wing 6, tarsus I'l, bill from gape T2. The 

 female is of the same size. 



The Crested Pied Cuckoo occurs at Thayetmyo and its immediate vicinity 

 down to Prome, and, so far as is at present known, in no other part of 

 British Burmah. 



It is found over the whole peninsula of India from Cashmeer to Ceylon, 

 and it will probably be met with in the drier portions of the Indo-Burmese 

 countries. A Cuckoo which is closely allied to, if not indeed identical with, 

 the present species inhabits South Africa. 



This Cuckoo is found commonly in the scrub-jungle which surrounds 

 the cantonment of Thayetmyo, and, owing to its conspicuous black-and- 

 white plumage and crested head, does not easily escape observation. I have 

 traced it to the foot of the Pegu hills on the east and down to Engmah to 

 the south, and these are its extreme limits to the east and south. It 

 probably extends some way north and west of Thayetmyo, but how far I 

 cannot say. It is usually seen singly, and it appears to seek its food on 

 the ground as frequently as on trees. It has a rather loud call-note. 



