178 CUCULID^ CUCUIiUS 



As far as our present knowledge goes the European Cuckoo does 

 not occur in Cape Colony* nor is it common elsewhere, though Ayres 

 has obtained a good many specimens in the Transvaal. The follow- 

 ing are localities : Transvaal — Potchefstroom, December and Janu- 

 ary (Barratt and Ayres), Lekkerkraal, Waterberg dist., January 

 (Pretoria Mus.) ; Ehodesia — near Salisbury, January (Marshall) ; 

 German south-west Africa — Otjimbinque, February, April, and On- 

 donga, December (Andersson) ; Portuguese east Africa — Zambesi 

 valley, November, December (Alexander). 



Habits. — Little has been noted regarding the habits of the 

 European Cuckoo in South Africa. Ayres describes them as shy 

 and difficult to approach and of rapid flight, and that they were 

 generally to be found among the mimosas. As in Europe they 

 chiefly feed on hairy caterpillars. 



South African specimens generally show marks of immaturity 

 and are probably in most cases birds of the year hatched in the 

 northern hemisphere during the previous spring. 



461. Cuculas poliocephalas. Smaller Cuckoo. 



Cuculus poliocephalus, Lath. Ind. Orn. i, p. 214 (1790) ; Shelley, Cat. B. 

 M. xix, p. 255 (1891) ; id. B. Afr. i, p. 124 (1896). 



Description. Adult. — Similar to G. canorus but much smaller, 

 with the lower plumage, and especially the lower tail-coverts, tinged 

 with buff and with broader black bars on the breast. 



Iris brown ; bill blackish ; base of lower mandible yellow ; feet 

 yellow. 



Length about 10-0 ; wing 5-7 to 6-1 ; tail 4-9 to 5-4 ; tarsus 0-68. 



Distribution. — The Smaller Cuckoo appears to be an Eastern 

 race of the common Cuckoo ; it breeds throughout the Himalayas, 

 China and Japan, wintering in India ; it is also common in Mada- 

 gascar where it breeds, and occasionally occurs in Africa south of 

 6° N. lat. There is an example in the British Museum from 

 Durban, obtained by Gordge, the only record, so far as I am aware, 

 of its occurrence within our limits. 



462. Cuculas solitarius. Bed-chested Cuckoo. 

 Le Coucou solitaire, Levaill. Ois. d^Afr. v, p. 35, pi. 206 (1806). 

 Cuculus solitarius, Steph. Oenl. Zool. ix, p. 84, pi. 18 (1815) ; Ourney, Ibis, 



1860, p. 213 ; Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 248 (1867) ; Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1878, 

 p. 582 ; id. ed. Layard'sB. S. Afr. pp. 149, 809 (1875-84) ; Ayres, Ibis, 

 1876, p. 483 I Lydenburg] ; Butler, Feilden, and Beid, Zool. 1882, p. 207 



* The Soutli African Museum has recently received an example from Mr. 

 Shortridge, shot at Port St. John's in Pondolond in March. 



