MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



361 



They can be at once recognised from the eggs of the host, which they 

 resemble in colour, by their shape and absence of gloss. 

 The eggs, found in six nests, measured as follows 



15th May 



18th May 



Do. 



21st May 

 8th June 



17th June 



1-02" X 0-88" 



1-05" X 0-91" 



Associated with two young C. 



coromandus. 

 with 3 young Garrulax and one 



egg of H. sjjarverioides. 



j- with 6 Garrulax eggs. 



ri-05"xO 

 ll-12"xO 

 I 1-10" X 0-96" 

 \ 1-13 'x 0-94" 

 l-07"xU-93" 

 / 1-1 :^"X 0-94" 

 ( 102" X 0-89" 

 f 1- 14" X 0-98" 

 \0-9S"x0'87" 

 It will be noticed that in three cases out of four where twf) cuckoos' esgs 



J with 2 



with 2 



j- with 3 



I with 2 



Is it 



were found in the same nest, the eggs were of quite different sizes 

 possible that the two diflerent sized eggs give rise to birds of different 

 sexes ? 



The first nest, found in May 15, was visited at intervals in order to 

 ascertain the fate of the young Garrulax. 



On May 17 the two young Coccystes were found to be flourishing and to 

 have grown a lot ; of the three young Garrulax, one was dead (xmder the 

 cuckoos in the nest), a second was dying and the third was alive but 

 evidently starving and had not grown at all. 



On May 21st the young Garrulax had all disappeared. 



On May 23rd one young cuckoo had flown and the other was with 

 difficulty secured as it made off. 



1 took the latter home and brought him up on a diet of grass-hoppers, 

 cockroaches, caterpillars, and beetle larvee, and he remained loose in the 

 garden for over three months, when he was probably killed by a cat. He 

 was quite tame and would fly down on to my hand to be fed. He never 

 really learnt to feed himself. 



His plumage was at first rufous with pale bars. He developed a crest 

 at about five weeks old and moulted gradually into his mature plumage at 

 three months old. He was very fond of caterpillars, hairy or otherwise, and 

 it wa,s interesting to watch his method of dealing with them. 



Having seized the caterpillar he passed it through his beak until he had 

 hold of it close to the head when he proceeded to cut through the neck 

 with a side to side motion of one mandible over the other. Having nearly 

 severed the head he passed the caterpillar through his bill until he had it 

 by the posterior extremity, which he treated in a similar manner. 



The unfortunate caterpillar was now reduced to the condition of a tube 

 open at both ends. The cuckoo then took it by the head or neck and 

 flicked it violently from side to side so that all the contents of the stomach, 

 etc., were quickly expelled. He did this very thoroughly, repeating the 

 operation several times, holding the caterpillar usually by the anterior but 

 sometimes also by the posterior end. Finally the almost empty skin of the 

 caterpillar was gulped down. 



The dexterity with which he dealt with caterpillars was remarkable, espe- 

 cially when it is borne in mind that he was never taught. The action was, 

 no doubt, hereditary and instinctive. 



6. Cocomantis merulirais. — The Burmese Plaintive Cuckoo. This cuckoo, 

 which is very common in and around Maymyo, takes the place in Burma of 

 its congener, C. passerinus, in India. 

 21 



