cucuLi. 169 



150. CUCULUS CANORUS. 



(COMMON CUCKOO.) 



Cuculm canorus, Linneus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 168 (1766J. 



Japanese examples of the Common Cuckoo appear to be absolutely 

 similar to European examples. They completely intergrade with 

 the Himalayan Cuckoo in size (wing from carpal joint 9 to 8 

 inches) ; and it is not known that they differ in any way in colour, 

 except that in the adult Common Cuckoo there is no tendency 

 for the tail to darken near the tip, and in the rufous stage there are 

 no bars across the rump. 



Figures : Dresser, Birds of Europe, v. pi. 299. 



The Common Cuckoo has long been known to occur both on the 

 Kurile Islands and in Japan (Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 443). 

 It is a summer visitor to all the Japanese Islands. There is an 

 example in the Swinhoe collection from Hakodadi (Swinhoe, Ibis, 

 1875, p. 451), whence it was obtained by the Perry Expedition 

 nearly twenty years previously (Cassin, Exp. Am. Squad. China Seas 

 and Japan, ii. p. 222) . There are fourteen examples in the Pryer 

 collection from Yokohama. 



The breeding-range of the Common Cuckoo extends from the 

 British Islands across Europe and Southern Siberia to Japan. 



151. CUCULUS INTERMEDIUS. 

 (HIMALAYAN CUCKOO.) 

 Ctfculus intermedius, Vahl, Scrift. Nat. Selek. iv. pt. i. p. 59 (1797). 



The Himalayan Cuckoo is a small form (wing from carpal joint 

 71 to 6f inches) of the Common Cuckoo; but, having a totally 

 different note (Seebohm, Ibis, 1878, p. 326), it is regarded as speci- 

 fically distinct. The tail has a slight tendency to darken towards the 

 tip, and in the rufous stage the rump is barred. 



The Himalayan Cuckoo is a summer visitor to all the Japanese 

 Islands. It is not uncommon in Yezzo (Blakiston and Pryer, Trans. 

 As. Soc. Japan, 1882, p. 131), and there are three examples in the 

 Pryer collection from Fuji-yama. 



