TEE BIRDS OP NORTH CACHA^. 305 



Their nests are generally built in rather heavy forest, never in 

 bamboo clumps, seldom on bashes, generally on young saplings at a 

 height of about 15 or 20 feet from the ground. 



It is extremely common at Guilang, about 3,500 feet elevation, 

 during the breeding season. Males do more of the incubation than 

 do the females. 



Order — Cuculi. 

 Family Cuculidce, 

 Sub-family Cuculince. 

 (424) GucuLUS CANORUS. — The European Cuckoo. 

 Hume, No, 199 ; Blanford, Wo. 1104. 

 Fairly common. 



I have a very poor collection of skins of the Cuculidce and have 

 been very unfortunate concerning these birds in every way, princi- 

 pally in taking a great number of eggs, cuckoos undoubtedly and 

 probablt/ belonging to certain species, but the greater number of 

 which cannot be assigned to any one particular species with absolute 

 certainty, 



(425) CucuLUS iNTERMED,ius. — The Asiatic Cuckoo. 

 IJumej No. 200 ; Blanford, No. 1 105. 

 I have an egg taken from a nest of Suya crinigera, ^ich also 

 contained three Suyu^s eggs, which I believe to belong to this bird, 

 the proof being that a female of C. intermedius was shot that day 

 near the nest, and though I was at Haflang for some days prior to 

 taking the nest I saw no other Cucidusj nor did I see any after shoot- 

 ing the one in question. 



The egg is a queer pale purplish stone-colour as far as the ground- 

 colour goes, the secondary markings consisting of darker and bluer 

 smears and blotches of the same colour, and the primary specks and 

 blotches being of various shades of brown. The egg can be 

 matched with many of C. canorus. This is not a very common bird 

 here, and I have shot more European than Asiatic cuckoos in Cachar. 

 (425) CucuLus MiCROPTiRUS. — Gould's Cuckoo. 

 Hume, No. 203 ; Blanford, No, 1107. 

 I have two specimens of this, both males in perfect plumage. One 

 was shot in the plains, the other at an elevation of about 3,500 feet. 



