TACCOCUA. 237 



tail-feathers tipped with white and with a subterminal black band ; 

 lower parts to the breast pale grey, sometimes washed with buff, 

 becoming more rufous on the breast and abdomen ; flanks and lower 

 tail-coverts chestnut. 



Bill apple-green ; orbital skin pale green, inclining to bluish ; 

 irides dark brown ; legs and feet dark plumbeous (Davison). 



Length about 13; tail 7 ; wing 4-5; tarsus 1-05 ; bill from gape 

 1-4. 



Distribution. In Tenasserim as far north as Lemyne, a little 

 north of Yay, also throughout the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and 

 Borneo. 



Habits, #c. According to Davison, this Ground- Cuckoo fre- 

 quents the densest parts of evergreen forests and cane-brakes. In 

 all its habits it resembles Rhopodytes, but has a different note, a 

 peculiar cat-like mew, not a chuckle. It is almost invariably 

 found in pairs and feeds on insects. 



Genus TACCOCUA, Lesson, 1831. 



Bill shorter and deeper than in Zanclostomus and Rhopodytes 

 upper mandible distinctly festooned near the base. Wings short 

 and rounded ; tail long, broad, and graduated, upper tail-coverts 

 more than half as long as the tail. The plumage of the head, neck, 

 upper back, and breast spinous, shafts of the frontal feathers pro- 

 jecting. A row of coarse bristles nearly surrounds the eye except 

 behind. Tarsus strong. Claws short and curved. Plumage above 

 grey. 



A single species, peculiar to India and Ceylon. 



1129. Taccocua leschenaulti. The Sirkeer Cuckoo. 



Hume, Cat. no. 219 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 266; Vidal, S. F. ix, 

 p^ 56 ; Butler, ibid. p. 389 ; Davison, S. F. x, p. 361 ; Barnes, 

 Birds Bom. p. 134 ; Oates in Hume's N. 8f JS. 2nd ed. ii, p. 408. 



Centropus sirkee, Gray in Hardw. III. 2nd. Zool. i, pi. 28 (1830-32). 



Taccocua infuscata, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 201 (1845) ; id. Cat 

 p. 77 ; Horsf. fy M. Cat. ii, p. 687 ; Jerdon. B. I. i, p. 353 : Hume 

 Cat, no. 221 ; Scully S. F. viii, p. 258. 



Taccocua sirkee, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 201 ; id. Cat. p. 77 ; Horsf. 

 Sf M. Cat. ii, p. 687 ; Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 353 ; id. Ibis, 1872, p. 16 

 McMaster, J. A. S. B. xl, pt. 2, p. 209 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli 

 pt. 2, p. 234 ; Hume, Cat. no. 220 ; Marshall, Ibis, 1884, p 411 

 Oates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 408 ; Shelley, Cat. B. M 

 xix, p. 381. 



Taccocua affinis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 19 (1846) ; id. Cat. p. 77 ; 

 Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 354 ; King, J. A. S. B. xxxviii, pt. 2. p. 214 ' 

 Blanford, J. A. S. B. xxxviii, pt. 2, p. 168 ; id. S. F. v, p. 246 ' 

 Fairbank, S. F. iv, p. 255 ; Ball, S. F. vii, p. 208 ; Hume Cat 

 no. 222. 



The Southern, Bengal, Northern, and Central Indian Sirkeers, Jerdon ; 

 Jangli tola, II. ; Adavi chilluka, Potu chilluka, Tel. 



