152 GARDEN AND AVIAHY BIRDS. 



The Hawk-Cuckoo feeds both on fruit and insects, and 

 is frequently in Bengal, at any rate, reared as a cage-bird, 

 but it always knocks itself about to the utter ruin of its 

 plumage, and cannot be called a desirable pet. It should 

 be fed on satoo, fruit and insects, and kept away from 

 other birds, as these have the greatest dislike to it on 

 account of its suspicious appearance. 



THE COUCAL OR CROW-PHEASANT (Centropus sinensis). 

 This is a very different bird from the parasitic Cuckoos 

 above dealt with, and lives a most irreproachable life as 

 far as attending to its parental duties is concerned. It 

 is a big bird, over a foot and a half long, with a powerful 

 bill and rather long legs, the inner hind toe being furnished 

 with a long straight claw like a Lark's, whence the term 

 * 'Lark-heeled" often applied to Cuckoos of this type. 

 Its wings are short and round, and its tail very long ; the 

 plumage is harsh and wiry, and the bird's general appear- 

 ance quite justifies the name popularly given to it. It is 

 known in Hindustani as Mahoka. 



Cock and hen are alike in colour, being glossy blue-black 

 with bright chestnut wings, black bills and feet, and 

 bright red eyes. The young in first plumage have grey 

 eyes, but vary a great deal in colour, some being dull 

 editions of the parents, and others quite different. In 

 these latter, the black parts of the plumage are closely 

 barred with white and the wings barred with black. 

 Such birds are always bigger than the others, and may 

 be, as Jerdon says, the hens, since in this bird the hen is 

 rather larger than the cock. But if this is so, it is 

 curious that all the birds in a brood are either hens or 



