504 Mr. L. M. Seth-Smitli on 



136. Ceiilhmochares aeneus. Common. Skulking about 

 in the tops of thick forest-trees. A breeding female was 

 shot in July. 



137. Centropus superciliosus. Fairly common in the bush 

 and grass country. A young one^ only just able to fly, was 

 seen on May 25. 



138. Cucuhis solitarius. This common Cuckoo is to be 

 heard day and night from January to September. It is a 

 very shy bird and not easy to obtain, although one for some 

 weeks in February came every day and perched on a bare 

 tree not ten yards from where I was sitting on my verandah 

 and uttered its call, now and then flying down on to the 

 ground to pick up a hairy caterpillar. It lays in May and 

 June, and Motacilla vidua is a common host. 



139. Cuculus jacksoiii. 



Cuculus jachoni Sharpe, B. O. C. xiii. 1902, p. 7. 



Very little is known about this rare bird. I obtained 

 one on May 4, late in the evening, calling just outside a 

 forest. I believe it to be entirely a forest-bird and very 

 shy, only leaving the depths of the forest for the outskirts 

 in the late dusk. When I obtained this bird I did not take 

 particular note of its call, as I believed it to be C. clamosus — 

 any way the calls are not very distinct. 



140. Cuculus clamosus. A forest-bird, not often noticed 

 until dusk, when it may be heard frequently. Its call is very 

 distinct from that of C solitarius, whose third note falls, 

 whereas in this species it rises in tone, the three notes being 

 uttered slowly and the last note often repeated. It has also 

 a hnrsh chattering call of several notes, rapidly uttered, 

 running up tlie scale and down again. A very shy bird. 



141. Cercococcyx mechowi. Another rarity, of whose 

 habits practically nothing is known. The only one I ob- 

 tained in this district was in thick forest, very late in the 

 evening. I was just able to see it outlined against the sky 

 after it had flown past me. A lamp iiad to be fetched 

 before it could be found. 



