204 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



of the Drongo-mimic is only square or slightly 

 forked, whereas the tail of the Drongo itself has an 

 extra strong and deep fork with an outward turn 

 like that of our Blackcock, so that these spirited 

 Shrikes would have to be uncomnaonly bad observers 

 not to detect the impostor at a glance. 



However that may be, the other case does not 

 seem very much abetter ; one of the Koels of the 

 genus Eudynamis allied to the Indian Koel above 

 mentioned lays in Borneo in the nest of a Talking 

 Mynah (Eulabes), and the young of both sexes are 

 said to be black, as males of this genus of Cuckoos 

 always are, the hens being speckled like hen 

 Pheasants. This is supposed to deceive the parent 

 Mynahs, which are black birds, while the Ctickoos 

 are growing up, the hen getting her colour 

 later on. 



Something similar has been said about the 

 Indian Koel, which, as we have seen, parasitizes 

 Crows, birds which are certainly more clever than 

 any Mynah ; but as a matter of fact, in Bengal at 

 any rate, young Koels do not resemble the male in 

 all cases. Young cocks are black, indeed, but have 

 some buflFy markings, and young hens are almost as 

 variegated as the old birds, equally so in fact save 

 for a solid black cap. It would surely be far more 

 to the point for the hen to be like a Crow, so as 

 to approach- the nest in greater safety, if evolution 

 here were proceeding on orthodox lines. And as to 

 the resemblance of the young to that o£ fosterers, 

 the^Hawk-like young of other Cuckoos manage to 



