28 THE BIRDS OF THE LUCKNOW CIVIL DIVISION. 
pair, On such occasions they are very noisy; while at 
this season their well-known call is often heard at night. 
The Koel, I think, invariably deposits its eggs in the nest of 
the Common Indian Grey-necked Crow (C. splendens). Ihave 
found them onseveral occasions. Details as follows :— 
June 30th ... 1 egg (fresh) no Crow’s eggs in nest. 
yO OUM aes, 9K os oust, Nase ” ” 
July 9th ....1  ,, (hard-set) 2 ,, A 
a 7a: Oe Peete emer GR Ma? Lp ear A Hy 
Few ylit tly sees, A. oe ALEGRE) ereer ome - 
» 2ord, .. lL 5 ( » ) no Crow's eop in nest, 
Average measurement of 6 eggs... 1°20 by °88 inches. 
Measurement of largest ege ...1:28 ,, ‘94  ,, 
Measurement of smallest egg ... 1:14 ,, 86 ,, 
The above record is rather puzzling, but tends, I think, to 
show that the Koel ejects the Crow’s eggs from the nest when 
depositing her own. I may also add that at Chinhut, on the 
25th August, I saw a Crow feeding a young Koel. The young- 
ster, to attract the attention of the Crow, occasionally indulged 
in a continuous “cawing” for all the world like a young Crow. 
Jt was fully fledged, and flew from tree to tree after its foster- 
parent. On another and more recent occasion I saw a batch of 
three young Koels, being led about and fed by a pair of Crows, 
the young birds making very fair attempts to “ caw.” 
217 quat.—Centrococcyx intermedius, Hume—Na- 
tive name—Vahok. 
Hume’s Coucal or Crow Pheasant—which, I believe, is the 
only species of this genus found in the Division—is a permanent 
resident. It is fairly abundant but rather locally distributed, 
frequenting bamboo brakes, particularly where these occur 
round tanks in the neighbourhood of villages; sugarcane fields 
in the vicinity of jhils, and generally, any odd patches of 
jungle bordering on water, from which latter it is seldom found 
at any distance. In the Horticultural Gardens at Lucknow it 
is rather common, and breeds there in trees overrun with 
creepers. It also breeds in bamboo and other thorny thickets, 
generally in June, but it may have two broodsin the year, as I 
have seen quite young birds in November. Of two nests that I 
robbed inJune one contained three and the other two white 
eggs, rather dull and chalky in appearance. They average in 
measurement 1°38 by 1:12 inches. 
220.—Taccocua sirkee, Gray. 
The Bengal Sirkeer is a permanent and fairly common resident, 
but is also somewhat locally distributed. In well-wooded 
