TACCOCUA LESCHENAULTI. 267 



Mr. Hume, who appears to have now a larger series than has ever been before got together, writes that he can 

 only satisfy himself of the existence of two forms — the present, with the dark olive-brown back, and T. sirhee 

 with the pale sandy or satiny-brown upper surface. From an examination of a small series in the British Museum 

 from different localities, I think that his conclusions are likely to prove correct. Three examples from Capt. Pinwill's 

 collection, now in the British Museum, measure in the wing 6'4, 5 - 9, 6-3 inches, two exceeding my maximum 

 dimension ; these are the dark-backed race ; but they differ slightly from the Ceylonese bird in the forehead being 

 somewhat rufous and in the rufescent hue of the breast ascending up the throat : the island race is characterized, 

 on the contrary, by its darker or grey fore neck and whitish chin, and the forehead is concolorous with the crown. 

 Typical specimens of T. sirhee, the Bengal species, have the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts very pale sandy 

 yellowish above, and the throat and fore neck very pale rufous. 



Distribution. — The first specimen of this curious Cuckoo procured iu the island was killed by Mr. Forbes 

 Laurie in Durnbara, whither the species ascends from the low country at Bintenne. It is not a rare bird, but, 

 being very shy and inhabiting the densest thickets, appears to have escaped the researches of ornithologists 

 previously working in Ceylon. Its head- quarters, I consider, are the hot jungle-clad districts lying to the 

 south of Haputale and stretching thence from the eastern slopes of the southern ranges through the Bootala 

 and Maha Vedda Ratas to the country lying between Bintenne and the east coast. Thence it ascends the 

 mountain-slopes — on the south, those of the Badulla and Haputale ranges ; on the east, those extending from 

 Hewa Elliya past Maturatato Medamahanuwara. Although I have not met with it north of the latter region, 

 it is most probable that it inhabits the whole of the Vedda country round the " Gunner's Coin " mountain 

 almost to the Virgel river, for this is precisely similar in character to that about Kattregama, where I first 

 saw it and where it is common. I have procured it in the Wellaway Korale, and Mr. BLigh has killed several 

 specimens above Lemastota at about 2500 feet elevation. It is pretty common near Nilgalla, inhabiting the 

 open jungle on the elevated cheenas between Kaloday and Bibile. Here I saw three or four specimens in a 

 single day. The most elevated region in which it has as yet been observed is the Uva patna-district, in which 

 I have met with it near Wellemade on a hill about 3500 feet in altitude. This portion of the Central Province, 

 consisting of steep patnas and deep wooded ravines, is little known to naturalists, or, in fact, to any but 

 occasional sportsmen, who descend to it from the neighbouring coffee-estates either for Snipe- or Partridge- 

 shooting. It attains an altitude near Banderawella of about -iOOO feet, and on the north-east slopes away to 

 Badulla, and thence into the low country at Teldeniya, where the Sirkeer is found, and whence it ascends into 

 the patnas, very probably inhabiting the whole region. On the mainland this species is found in Southern 

 India. Jerdon writes that he procured it on the Eastern Ghats, in the Deccan, and on the Nilghiris, finding 

 it in grassy slopes from 5000 to 6000 feet elevation. Its range, however, would appear to extend to the 

 north of India. I have seen specimens from the N.W. Provinces ; and Mr. Hume has it from Dehra Doon 

 and Kumaon Bhabur (still further north), as also from Sumbhulpoor, Raipoor, Khandala, and other places in 

 Central India. The Bengal species is found in the Sambhur, Guzerat, Kutch, and other western districts, as 

 well as in other parts of the Presidency. 



Habits. — The Sirkeer is a shy bird, frequenting dry jungle in open grassy country, low scrub, tangled 

 thickets, and bushy patna-tracts in the Central Province. It feeds almost entirely on the ground in long 

 grass, never straying far from its native fastnesses, and, as far as I have been able to observe, only issuing from 

 them in the morning and evening, at which times it principally feeds. It is found by the sides of jungie- 

 roads and on patches of ground under native cultivation which are surrounded by dense scrub. I have, fol- 

 lowing the winding native track, more than once entered these enclosm - es, generally from 5 to 10 acres in 

 extent, and immediately on my emerging from the wood into the open have espied one of these birds at the far 

 end making off instantly for the cover; on alighting at the edge of the jungle they quickly thread their way, like 

 a Centropus ("Jungle-Crow"), from branch to branch, and are not many seconds before they disappear into 

 the impenetrable thicket around them. 



Its diet principally consists of grasshoppers, Mantidse, and other insects, which it captures in long grass 

 and with which it crams itself to excess. Mr. Bligh writes me that since I left the island he shot one near 

 Lemastota with a freshly killed brown lizard in its stomach ; it was very thick and about 8 inches long, and 



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