772 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



itself on its legs, lifting its fore limbs right off the ground by way of asking for 

 food. The other koel's egg and that of the crow were still in the nest. I put 

 these up against the young koel and on top of its back (which is not hollowed 

 out like that of Cuculus canorus), but it did not seem to mind in the least. On 

 the 26th the second koel's egg was splitting and the young bird ready to emerge. 

 Meanwhile the young koel was growing apace. Its rectrices and wing feathers 

 had begun to show as bristles about one-sixth of an inch in length. I again 

 tried it with the crow's egg, but it was not in any way sensitive as is the 

 common cuckoo. 



On June 27th I found only it and the crow's egg. The koel's egg had dis- 

 appeared. I do not think that it was ejected by the koel that had hatched 

 out, for, as I have said, this did not seem at all to mind contact with the egg. 

 I believe that when the crow flew out of the nest the egg had adhered to 

 its feathers, having become sticky owing to the fact that some albuminous 

 fluid had oozed out preparatory to the appearance of the young bird. Young 

 pigeons are, I am informed, often lost in this manner. 



On the 28th the young koel and the crow's egg were still in the nest. I 

 again tested the sensitiveness of the koel to the egg and found none. I may 

 here remark that the koel is considerably smaller than the crow, so that even 

 were the former sensitive as is the common cuckoo, it probably would not be 

 strong enough to eject the crow's egg until it was several days old. From the 

 29th June to July 1st I was away, but Mr. G-. A. Pinto, of the Accountant 

 General's office, very kindly had a look at all nests for me during each day of 

 my absence. On my return both the koel and the crow's egg were in the nest. 



On July 3rd I again experimented to see whether the koel was sensitive ; 

 I placed the crow's egg on its neck, then on its back and finally on its wing, but 

 it did not seem to be aware of the presence of the egg, and made not the 

 slightest attempt to remove it. The bird was very quiet and timid. The 

 quill feathers had attained a length of nearly an inch and gave the bird the 

 appearance of a young porcupine. The eyes were black. 



On July 4th the young koel alone was in the nest, the crow's egg was lying 

 broken on the ground beneath the tree ; but it was clear from the appearance 

 of the branches that some person had been up the tree. I again tested to see 

 whether the koel minded contact with a foreign object, but it did not appear 

 to do so. The feathers had just begun to emerge from the sheath and the tips 

 were slightly tinged with red. I continued to examine the young bird daily. 

 By the 7th quite § of an inch of each tail feather was protruding beyond the 

 sheath. With the exception of the tip, which was becoming more reddish, 

 all the remaining feathers were black. The eye had become a smoky brown. 



I find the following entry, auent the young koel, recorded in my diary of 

 July 8th : — "The young koel now looks quite presentable. Its tail is two 

 inches long. The feathers of the neck are glossy black, the remainder are 

 brownish black, some of them {i.e. those which were the first to appear) 

 having rufous tips. There is now little doubt that the young bird is a cock." 



