CUCULID^ CUCULUS 



179 



[Newcastle] ; Shelley, Cat. B. M. xix, p. 258 (1891) ; id. B. Afr. 

 p. 124 (1896) ; Woodward Bros. Natal B. p. 115 (1899) ; W. L. 

 Sclater, Ibis, 1899, p. 112 [Inhambane] ; Ivij, Ibis, 1901, p. 24. 

 Cuculus capensis {nee Mull.) Orill, K. Vet. Akad. Handl. ii, no. 10, 



p. 41 (1858). 

 " Piet mijn vrouw " of Dutch; " Pezukomkono " of Zulus, both names 

 being formed from the note of the bird ; the former name is also applied to 

 Cossypha bicolor. 



Description. Adult male. — Above, dark slate, lighter on the 

 head, darker on the tail ; wing-quills with white bars on the inner 

 webs ; central tail-feathers with four small spots along the shaft, 

 and the tip white, lateral feathers with spots along the edge of 

 the inner web as well ; below, the chin, throat and ear-coverts are 

 grey, with a slight tinge of rufous ; the lower throat and breast 

 are rich rufous, the rest of the lower surface, including the under 

 wing-coverts, pale buff strongly barred with black ; under tail-coverts 

 sometimes plain, sometimes barred. 



Iris reddish-brown ; orbital skin lemon-yellow ; bill, upper man- 

 dible black, lower yellowish, black at tip ; legs and feet yellow. 



Length 12-5 ; wing 6-76 ; tail 6'10 ; culmen 0-70 ; tarsus 0-75. 



A female differs from the male in having the throat and breast 

 barred like the rest of the under surface, the whole faintly washed 

 with rufous, which, however, is darker on the sides of the lower 

 neck ; the dimensions are about the same. 



A young bird differs markedly from the adult ; the upper surface 

 the throat and centre of the breast are black, most of the feathers 

 with white tips forming a slight freckling ; the wing-quills are 

 barred with rufous on both webs, and some of the spots on the 

 edges of the tail-feathers are also rufous. 



Distribution. — The Eed-chested Cuckoo is found throughout the 

 whole of the Ethiopian region from the Gold Coast and the upper 

 Nile Valley southwards. It is only in the southern summer during 

 the breeding season that it is found in South Africa ; during the 

 winter from March to September it apparently migrates to the 

 north of the equator, as it was found in the Bogos country between 

 the Blue Nile and the Sobat in May by Heuglin. So far as is yet 

 known it occurs only in the southern and eastern portions of South 

 Africa from Cape Town to Natal and Portuguese territory. 



The following are localities : Cape Colony — Cape div., Nov., 

 Dec, Feb., George, Sept. (Atmore), Knysna, Dec. (Andersson inBt. 

 Mus.), Albany div. Nov. Dec. (Ivy), King WilUam's Town (Bt. 

 Mus.) Port St. John's, Nov. Dec. (S. A. Mus.); Natal— Ifafa 



