THE LESSER COUCAL. 127 



size, wing 7*5 to 8' 2 inches, and red interscapulary region ; and C. rufi- 

 pennis, which is about the same size as C. intermedius, by the entire 

 absence of red on the interscapulary region. C. acheenensis is a species 

 described by Messrs. Hume and Pavison from North-west Sumatra ; it 

 belongs to the blue-tailed section, and differs from C. eurycercus in being 

 much smaller. I have not been able to examine a specimen of this 

 species. 



Mr. Swinhoe (P. Z. S. 1871, p. 393) makes the following remarks : 

 " I can find no distinctive characters between the Chinese and Bengalese 

 specimens ; but birds from Siarn have the back chestnut as well as the 

 scapulars, = C. eurycercus, A. Hay/' I gathered from this that the Chinese 

 bird has no red on the back, and therefore it cannot be C. intermedius ; but 

 Chinese birds which I have examined in the Swinhoe collection have the 

 interscapulary region chestnut, and appear to me to be inseparable from 

 Burmese examples. 



TheBurmese Coucal is distributed over the whole of British Burmah. Capt. 

 Wardlaw Ramsay records it from the Karin hills, but not from Karennee. 



It extends through the Iiido-Burinese countries to Eastern Bengal, and 

 appears to be spread over China. 



The Burmese Coucal is one of those birds which is known to every resi- 

 dent in the Province, both from its striking plumage and its loud call. 

 The latter consists of a series of deep-sounding hoots. It frequents thick 

 entangled jungle, and feeds almost entirely on the ground, on large insects 

 and small reptiles. In July or August it makes an immense nest, domed 

 at the top, about a foot and a half high and fully a foot in diameter. It 

 is chiefly made of grass, but leaves, and sometimes twigs, are incorporated 

 with the structure. It is placed in trees at a considerable height from the 

 ground, and also in elephant-grass. The eggs, two or three in number, are 

 white. This bird is better known perhaps by the name " Crow Pheasant/' 



510. CENTROCOCCYX BENGALENSIS, 



THE LESSER COUCAL. 



Cuculus bengalensis, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 412. Centropus bengalensis, Jerd. 

 B. 2nd. i. p. 350 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 144 ; El. B. lliinn. p. 82 ; David 

 et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 69 j Oates, S. F. v. p. 146 j Hume 8f Dav. S. F. vi. p. 171 ; 

 Gammicj S. F. v. p. 385 ; Bingham, S. F. ix. p. 169. Centrococcyx benga- 

 lensis, Wald. Trans. Zool. Soc.viii. p. 59 ; Hume, S. F. iii. p. 84, viii. p. 89 j Oates, 

 S. F. x. p. 190 ; Kdham, Ibis, 1881, p. 395. 



Description. Male and female in summer. Head, neck and lower plumage 

 black glossed with purple, the shafts glistening black ; wings, coverts, 



