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AN ENQUIRY INTO THE 'PARASITIC HABITS 

 OF THE INDIAN KOEL. 



BY 

 D. Dewae, I.C.S., F.Z.S. 



Although the koel (Eudynamis honorata) is so common in India, there are 

 several points regarding its nesting habits which need clearing up ; accordingly 

 I, long ago, determined to seize the first opportunity which presented itself to 

 conduct an investigation. The opportunity came when, at the end of May this 

 year, I went to live with Mr. Kelly, Assistant Principal of the Aitcheson 

 ■College, Lahore. Mr. Kelly's bungalow is situated in the midst of the exten- 

 sive and well-wooded grounds of the college. Both crows and koels abound, 

 and the former build in the loftier trees. 



The questions which I set myself to answer were the following : — 



1. Does the hen koel first lay her egg upon the ground and carry it to the 

 nest in her beak, or does she sit in the nest and lay it ? 



2. Does she take away or destroy the crow's eggs that are already in the 

 nest? 



3. Does the young koel, like the common cuckoo, eject its foster brethren ? 



4. Is the incubating period of the koel shorter than that of the crow ? 



In order to illustrate the uncertainty that exists upon this subject I quote 

 what various Indian ornithological authorities have to say regarding these 

 points : — 



Hume writes of the koel in the second edition (1890) of The Nests and Eggs 

 of Indian Birds : — " Mr. Blyth recorded the following remarks in regard to the 

 " eggs of this species: — ' The egg is certainly so often found alone that there 

 " can be little doubt that the koel destroys the eggs of the crow at the time her 

 " own is deposited ; but it is doubtful whether the young koel is endowed 

 " with the instinct of ejecting any companions it may have, and it would seem 

 "" that it has not that propensity ; but the fact remains to be systematically 

 xt observed. Mr. Firth informs us that be has never found more than one koel's 

 " egg in a nest.' 



" My experience differs in some important particulars from Mr. Blyth's. In 

 ■" the first place I deny that koel's eggs are generally found alone ; in thirty cases 

 " of which I have notes there is no single instance of the egg being found alone. 

 " It is not the eggs that are destroyed, but the young crows that are got rid of 

 " probably by the young cuckoo ; I have found the latter in a nest with three 

 " young crows all freshly hatched, and a week later have found the young crows 

 " 'missing' and the young cuckoo thriving. In the next place I have frequently 

 " found two koel's eggs in one nest." 



Mr. William Jesse in a paper entitled " The Birds of Lucknow" contributed to 

 the Ibis in 1903, states : "I have found 2 koel's and no crow's eggs in a nest, 

 " 3 crow's and 2 koel's, 4 crow's and 1 koel's, and so on. Reid records 1 koel's 

 ■"and no crow's (3 times), :1 hard-set crow's and 2 koel's, 3 hard-set crow's and 



