222 BOMBAY DUCKS 



as big as the mythical roc ; but this would profit the 

 parasitic bird little : the king-crow would stand up to it. 

 It is by craft, not by " bluff," that the cuckoo succeeds 

 in " scoring off" the drongo. Surniculus lugubris is, 

 perhaps, the most wonderful example of mimicry in 

 nature. It has adopted the dress of the drongo. It is 

 black all over and has a forked tail. It is said to be a 

 very uncommon cuckoo. 



I do not know whether I have ever seen a live species 

 or not, for I cannot distinguish it from a king-crow. 

 I am not ashamed of this admission : for the king-crow 

 himself is in this respect no better off than I am. I 

 submit that if A cannot distinguish B from his (A's) 

 own brother, it is surely not to be expected that I, 

 a stranger, can do so ! 



The drongo-cuckoo has a smart appearance and a 

 straight flight, and thus differs from the majority of 

 cuckoos, which are slovenly birds, the kind of birds 

 which, if they wore clothes, would slouch about with 

 their hands in their pockets and their hats on the back 

 of the head. The drongo-cuckoo, the lion in the ass's 

 skin, is allowed to hover about in the neighbourhood 

 of a king-crow's nest, and seizes the opportunity of 

 depositing an egg when the back of the owner of the 

 nest is turned. 



India boasts of some respectable cuckoos, that is 

 to say, cuckoos which build nests and do not shirk 

 parental responsibilities. The best known of these 

 is that widely distributed bird, the coucal, or crow- 

 pheasant. He is a personage of sufficient importance 

 to demand a chapter to himself. 



