CENTEOPUS BUFIPENNIS. 261 



Layard procured an albino of this Cuckoo at Pfc. Pedro, in which " the black and purple portions were changed to a 

 dirty creamy white, the dark red portions to a light brown." 



Ohs. Ceylonese O. rufipennis differs from the Indian bird of this species in its paler forehead and throat, these parts, 

 as a rule, being in the latter concolorous with the adjacent dark plumage. I say, as a rule, because I find that, as 

 in Ceylon, so in India, examples vary inter se in this respect ; an example from Kamptee and another from the 

 North-west Province are so close to the insular bird that the latter cannot well be discriminated as a separate 

 race. Mr. Swinhoe, when at G-alle, shot a pair of Coucals, which he considered (' Ibis,' 1873, p. 230) distinct 

 from the true C. rufipennis, on account of their smaller size and larger bills (the size of bill is not given), as well 

 as their broader tail-feathers barred obscurely across. The wings measured 1\ inches, which corresponds with 

 those of Indian specimens ; the tails evidently point to the individuals being immature. 



An example in the British Muse am from Kamptee measures 7-3 inches in the wing, and four measured and recorded by 

 Mr. Ball are as follows :— Sex ?, Gangpur, 7-7; d , Eajmehal hills, 7-2; s, Satpuras, 7-8; d juv., Calcutta, 7-55. 

 These would compare very well with five Ceylonese examples taken at random from a series. The tails of the first 

 three here enumerated measure 10-8, 10-5, 10-5 inches respectively; this is longer than they ever attain to in the 

 insular bird, and I have observed the same inferiority in this respect when comparing my specimens with those 

 in the national collection. 



The larger species (G. eurycercus) from Borneo, Labuan, Sumatra, Java, as well as from Tenasserim, Burmah, Nepal, 

 Sindh, Sikkim, and other parts of India (if the continental species be the same), differs from G. rufipennis in having 

 the back coloured red like the wings, which are a paler rufous than in the latter species ; likewise in the blue- 

 glossed tail and the much more metallic blue lustre of the hind neck, and finally iu the darker under wing-coverts : 

 it is, in all its races, a larger bird than C. rufipennis. A Labuan specimen measures 8*8, a Sumatran 8 - 7, and a 

 Bornean 8 - 6 inches in the wing ; the Sindh and Sikkim birds vary from 9 - to 9 - 5 according to Mr. Hume, and 

 some I have measured from other localities 7"9 to 8'3. 



Distribution. — The " Jungle-Crow," or " Crow-Pheasant " as it is popularly called, is found throughout 

 all the low country, including the island of Manaar and the Jaffna peninsula, in which latter districts, as well 

 as in most of the north of the island, it is extremely abundant. It ascends the hills, ranging up to 3000 feet 

 throughout the year in some districts, and reaching the altitude of the Nuwara-Elliya plateau in the cool dry 

 season. In June I have met with it in Upper Hewahette, and iu January I have heard it behind Hakgala 

 mountain and in the railway gorge. 



It is very abundant in the south-west and west of the island, and is tolerably numerous in the Eastern 

 Province and along the north-east coast. At Trincomalie it frequented the native gardens in the heart of the 

 Bazaar. In forest-districts it is local, being chiefly found where the jungle has been cut down and low scrub 

 grown up. It is common in Dumbara, and particularly about Kandy, Paradeniya, and generally along the 

 banks of the Mahawelliganga. On the Uva patnas it is not uncommon ; and in Haputale Mr. Bligh has seen 

 it above 4500 feet. 



On the continent the Common Coucal inhabits chiefly the southern and central portions of India. It is 

 common in Ramisserum Island and on the adjacent coast, and Mr. Fairbank observed it up to 3500 feet in the 

 Palani hills ; it likewise inhabits and breeds in the Nilghiris. It is common in the Deccan and in the 

 Khandala district especially. Mr. Ball writes, " The Crow-Pheasant is tolerably common throughout the Chota- 

 Nagpur division," but " circumstances, which it is not easy to detect, seem to influence the distribution of this 

 bird. In some portions of the district I have been for weeks without seeing a single specimen, suddenly then 

 I come upon a tract in which I do not fail to hear or see several every day." 



In the North-west Provinces it is also found, as well as in the plains of Upper India. Mr. Hume remarks 

 that it is abundant along the banks of the larger rivers in Sindh, but that in lower Sindh it is less common 

 than in upper. In the Sambhur-Lake district it is " very rare " (Adam). 



Habits. — The Common Coucal inhabits almost every variety of situation except gloomy forest, the interior 

 of which it shuns. In the south and west of the island it is found in low woods, cultivated lands, the outskirts 

 of heavy jungle, compounds, native gardens, and the borders of paddy-fields, and is usually a shy bird, betaking 

 itself, when flushed in the open, to the cover of the adjacent wood, and quickly climbing and making its way 

 through the branches out of sight. In the north, particularly in the Jaffna peninsula, it is the very reverse of 



