250 COCCYSTES COROMANDUS. 



Colombo, an individual was captured on a canoe, some miles from the coast, and on which it had alighted in 

 an exhausted state. When it first arrives it is not unfrequently seen in the Western Province, and then 

 disappears from the sea-board, taking up its quarters in the interior of the low country and ascending the 

 hills to some altitude. It occurs sometimes in Dumbara, and in March 1877 Mr. Bligh saw an example near 

 his bungalow on the Catton Estate at an elevation of more than 4000 feet ; he informs me that they are very 

 rare iu the Haputale district, and, indeed, its numbers throughout the island are very limited. The island of 

 Manaar and the adjoining coast may perhaps be considered an exception ; in the former I saw a good many 

 in March, and Mr. Simpson says it is found about Illepekadua, and in the interior between that place 

 and Mahintale. Mr. Holdsworth does not record it from Aripu. Layard procured it at Ratnapura. 



On the mainland the Coromandel Cuckoo enjoys a wide range, but seems to be nowhere numerous. 

 Jerdon writes of its distribution: — "It appears to be a rare species everywhere, though generally spread 

 through India and Ceylon, extending into Burmah and Malayaua. It is said to be common in Teuasserim 

 and the Malayan peninsula. I have seen it in Malabar and the Carnatic, and it is also found in Central 

 India and not very uncommonly in Bengal ; in the latter country only during the rains. I obtained it in 

 Sikhim in the warmer valleys." 



It has been procured by very few collectors of late years either in South or Central India. I find no 

 record of it in ' Stray Feathers ' from the Peninsula ; but I am aware that it is not uncommon in Ramisserum 

 Island, having received specimens from there, and it must consequently be found on the adjacent coast 

 about Tuticorin. Concerning its range to the east of the Bay of Bengal, Mr. Oates writes that in Pegu it 

 is widely distributed, but not common. Captain Feilden seems to have fallen in with it to a much greater 

 extent; he says : — " This bird is the commonest Cuckoo at Thayetmyo ; in the thicker parts of the jungle 

 every bamboo valley contains one or more pairs. They arrive in the beginning of the rains, and the young birds 

 do not leave until October." This is the period at which the species visits us in Ceylon, so that there would 

 appear to be a regular migration north and south at the bjginuing and end of the rains. In Tenasserim 

 Mr. Davison only found it at a place called Mecta myo, which is ab3ut the centre of the province. There is a 

 specimen in the British Museum from Sarawak; it goes, as we know, to Celebes, and it probably occurs in 

 intermediate localities, perhaps in Java, but from there I have not heard as yet of any specimens. It is very 

 desirable that we should know more of the movements and seasonal distribution of this bird, as it is one of 

 the most attractive of its- tribe in India. Swinhoe procured it at Amoy. 



Habits. — I have observed this species in thick scrub aud thorny jungle. A specimen was shot by 

 Mr. Mac Vicar in the cinnamon- gardens near Colombo, a locality decidedly favourable to its habits. It is very 

 shy, flying quickly up from the ground on being surprised, alighting then on the nearest bush or low tree, 

 and speedily threading its way through the branches to the other side, when it again takes wing. The 

 stomachs of those I have procured contained beetles, grasshoppers, Mautidae, and other large insects. Captain 

 Feilden notices that they have a Magpic-likc chatter usually, but that they utter a " harsh, grating, whistling 

 scream when watching over their young;" and this, I imagine, would be their ordinary note of alarm. 



Nidification. — The breeding-season appears to be during the rains, i. e. from Juue until October. Mr. 

 Hume describes an egg, wdiich was taken from the oviduct of a female shot in Tipperah, as being a broad oval 

 and of a " fine aud glossy texture; in colour it was a moderately pale, somewhat greenish blue, without any 

 specks or spots." 



Captain Feilden has reason to believe that it lays in the nests of Quaker-Thrushes (Alcippe phayrei'l). 

 He writes, " I have frequently shot the young bird from the middle of a brood of young Quaker-Thrushes ; 

 and, as far as I could see from the thickness of the jungle, the old Thrushes were feeding the young Cuckoo. 

 An egg taken from the nest of a Quaker-Thrush, that I believe to have belonged to this bird, was very round 

 and pale blue." 



The dimensions of the egg alluded to above are l - 05 by 0'92 inch. 



