234 CUCULUS SONNEEATI. 



in the national collection from Malacca measure in the wing 4-45 and 4-1 inches, and another from Sumatra 4-2. 

 Lord Tweeddale gives the wings of three examples as follows : — Candeish, 4-88 inches ; Malabar, 4-75 ; Maunbhoom, 

 4-SS. An individual from Tenasserim in the British Museum, which is scarcely separable from an immature 

 bird from Ceylon, has the wing 4-0, appearing to be intermediate between the true C. sonnerati and C. pravatus. 



Distribution. — The Bay Cuckoo is a resident in Ceylon, and scattered pretty freely over the island, but is 

 nowhere very common, except in the Eastern Province. In this part it is frequent in many localities. I found 

 it, particularly in the tank-district, affecting the open country between the Friars-Hood hills and the sea, and 

 also cheenas in the vicinity of the tanks. In the north-eastern districts I have observed it chiefly in the 

 north-east monsoon. In the South-west and in the Western Province it occurs in isolated places. I have 

 cither met with or procured it at Wackwelle near Galle, at Kaduwella near Colombo, in the Kuruwite Korale, 

 at Ambepussa, and one or two other spots. Mr. Parker records it from Uswewa, and I have heard it in the 

 North-central Province. 



During the north-east monsoon it appears to ascend the hills, and is not uncommon in many parts of the 

 Kandy country and also in Uva; it is styled by the planters in some coffee-districts the " Fine-weather Bird," 

 from its habit of calling before fine weather sets in. 



Elsewhere this species is found almost only in the Southern and Central parts of India. Mr. Hume 

 (' Stray Feathers,' 1875, p. 79) speaks of Captain Feilden procuring specimens of a Bay Cuckoo in Pegu which 

 corresponded with Jerdon's description of C. sonnerati; and I have seen an individual from Tenasserim, as 

 mentioned above, which could scarcely be separated from a Ceylonese specimen. Whether these will eventually 

 prove to be the true C. sonnerati or not, I am unable now to say ; but if they should, it will much extend the 

 range of the species. 



Jerdon writes, " This elegantly marked little Cuckoo is found in the forests of Malabar and Travancore, 

 where it appears tolerably common, also on the sides of the Nilghiris and in the Wynaad, and more rarely on 

 the Eastern Ghats, about the latitude of Madras." Of late neither Mr. Fairbank nor Mr. Bourdillon have 

 procured it in the above-mentioned localities ; but the former records it from Khandalla, and Lord Tweeddale 

 likewise from Maunbhoom, which is the most northerly locality from which I have heard of it. 



Habits. — This bird frequents open places in the jungle, the edges of tanks where there are dead trees, 

 sparsely-timbered country, and cheenas. It is very shy, and chiefly affects the tops of trees, where it remains 

 motionless for a long time, piping its curious far-sounding whistle, which may be syllabized as whi-whip, 

 whiwhip — whi-whip, wh'urhip. It is particularly noisy in the morning before 9 or 10 o'clock, and in the evening 

 just before and at sunset, calling for a considerable time without intermission, and consequently making its 

 presence known wherever it has taken up its abode. When in forest it is difficult to find, being a small bird 

 and generally seated across some horizontal brauch near the top of the tree; but should there be an isolated 

 t ree standing in the open, near the edge of the forest-clearing or cbcena, there the Banded Bay Cuckoo is sure 

 tu post itself, and then can easily be seen. In the Eastern Province I have come upon three or four in as 

 many separate trees standing close together ; they do not seem to care about cultivating any close intimacy, 

 though they are not unfrequently found in scattered company. Their call-notes are different from the whistle 

 just mentioned ; commencing in a low key they suddenly change to a higher, and then die away into scarcely 

 audible sounds. When approached they fly off to an adjacent tree, and commence calling anew. The diet of 

 this species consists chiefly of Coleoptera, Mantidse, and caterpillars. 



Nothing seems to be known of the nidification of this species. Mr. Hume, it is true, mentions that an 

 egg taken from the oviduct of one of the birds shot by Captain Feilden was bluish grey ; but it does not seem 

 quite certain to what species these specimens belonged. 



