244 SURNICTJLUS LUGUBRIS. 



birds, not quite mature, have fine white tips to the wing- and upper tail-coverts, and a greyish-white edging to the 

 under-surface feathers. 



Obs. The Indian species. S. diervroides of Hodgson (which was described from a specimen from "the mountains" in 

 Nepal), has generally been kept distinct from the much earlier described and reputedly smaller Javan species, 

 8. lugubris. L notice, however, that so high an authority as Lord Tweeddale remarks (loc. cit.) that "Himalayan, 

 ( tvlon, Malaecan, and Javan individuals do not differ," and are all the same as an example from Borneo, which is 

 the subject of his notes. It appears to be a very variable species as regards size. The wings of two adults from 

 Java, as given in the note in question, measure 5'75 and 4-S2 inches, one from Nepal 5-37, one from Darjiling 

 •"'■7."). 1 have examined a good series of Ceylonese examples and have found none to exceed the limit given above 

 (5-3), and the usual dimension is from 5-0 to 5-1 in fully adult black birds. 



Distribution. — This singular Cuckoo is rather locally dispersed in Ceylon, being common in one district 

 and absent in another adjacent tract of country. As regards the Western Province, it is occasionally found not 

 far from Colombo, and is very common in the Three Korales and country intermediate between that and Ratna- 

 pura, and it extends into the bills, above the latter place, to a moderate elevation, occurring at Gillymally. In 

 the south-west it is less frequent; in the Kurunegala and Puttalam district it is fairly represented, and it 

 occurs here and there throughout the northern forest-tract at all times of the year, from the latter place across 

 in Trineornalie, where it is not uncommon in the forests. In the Eastern Province I saw many examples, but 

 did not meet with it in the Kattregama and Hambantota districts. In Madulsima and Uva I have seen it up 

 to 4000 feet elevation, and procured it once near the Debedde gap ; in the Kandy country it is found towards 

 the Hangerankette side and in Dumbara valley. Layard mentions, in bis notes, that Mr. Thwaites sent him 

 numerous specimens from the neighbourhood of Kandy ; it is probably more plentiful there some seasons than 

 others. 



In India it is sparingly distributed throughout the country. Jerdon writes, " I have procured it on the 

 Malabar coast, the Wynaad, in Central India, and at Darjiling. I have found it in other parts of the Himalayas, 



and in Tenasserim aud liurmah." Mr. Hume records it as rare in Tenasserim. It has been procured 



in different parts of the Malaecan peninsula and in Sumatra at Lampong, and, as above noticed, was first 

 described from Java, where, according to Horsfield, it is found " in districts of secondary elevation, which are 

 diversified with extended ranges of hills and covered with luxuriant forests." To the east of that island it has 

 been found in Labuan and Borneo; and Mr. Swinhoe remarks that it was procured by him in Szechuen, China, 

 in the month of May. In India, judging by the experience of collectors recently, it is less common than in 



( Vyloil. 



Unfits. — The Fork-tailed Cuckoo frequents a variety of situations, inhabiting the interior of dry forests 

 throughout the north, scrub and low jungle in other places, grassy patnas dotted with isolated trees, aud last, 

 but not least, burnt clearings and vegetable plantations in the woods of the interior. In the latter it is chiefly 

 observed in Saffragam and at the base of the western ranges, delighting in perching on the charred stumps 

 and saplings which remain after the first firing of a ehecna. It is exceedingly docile in its disposition, some- 

 times alighting on a Pence by the side of a jungle-path and flying tamely on in front of the traveller, and at 

 others sitting on a stump until approached within a few yards. At a distance, its tame habit will always serve, in 

 conjunction with its small-looking head and bill, to distinguish it from a Drongo, to which it bears an otherwise 

 absolute resemblance. Its remarkably buman-like whistle, which consists of six ascending notes (sounding as 

 it' some one were practising a musical scale in the wilds of the jungle), is, I think, uttered chiefly in the 

 breeding-season, I have heard it always in the north during the north-cast monsoon; at other times, in 

 July and August, in the ^Yestcrn Province, it is quite mute. Its diet is mixed, consisting chiefly of 

 caterpillars and beetles, but often combined with various seeds. 



When on the wing it is very different from a Drongo, flying along with a steady movement, and not 

 dipping in its progress through the air. 



Sidification. — Judging from my examination of various specimens shot in the north, the breeding-season 

 >t this species appears to be in the early part of the year ; it is most noisy then. I have no information as to 



