CUCULI. 171 



152. CUCULUS POLIOCEPHALUS. 



(LITTLE CUCKOO.) 



Cuculus poliocephalus, Latham, Index Orn. i. p. 214 (1790). 



The Little Cuckoo appears to be almost similar, both in form and 

 colour, to the Common Cuckoo and the Himalayan Cuckoo, from 

 which it scarcely differs except in size (wing from carpal joint 6^ to 

 6^ inches) . Its note is quite different from that of either of its close 

 allies. 



Figures : Gould, Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains, 

 pi. 54 (rufous phase). 



The Little Cuckoo is a summer visitor to all the Japanese Islands 

 (Blakiston, Ain. List Birds of Japan, p. 13). There are seven 

 examples in the Pryer collection from Yokohama. 



The range of the Little Cuckoo extends westwards across China to 

 India and Ceylon, and various parts of tropical Africa. 



153. HIEROCOCCTX HYPERYTHRUS. 



(AMOOR CUCKOO.) 



Ouculus hypei-ythrm, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856, p. 96. 



The Amoor Cuckoo is the same size as the Common Cuckoo (wing 

 from carpal joint 8 to 7\ inches), but it differs in colour. In adults 

 the breast is uniform vinaceous buff ; in the young it is white, longi- 

 tudinally striped with dark brown. The tail is always barred. 



Figures : Schrenck, Reis. u. Forsch. Amur-Lande, i. pi. 10 (imma- 

 ture) ; Grould, Birds of Asia, vi. pi. 43 (adult) . 



The Amoor Cuckoo is a summer visitor to all the Japanese Islands 

 (Blakiston and Pryer, Trans. As. Soc. Japan, 1882, p. 132). There 

 are four examples in the Pryer collection from Fuji-yama, and I 

 have two collected by Mr. Heywood Jones from the same locality 

 (Seebohm, Ibis, 1879, p. 28). 



It breeds in the valley of the Amoor as well as in Japan, and 

 winters in South China and the Philippine Islands. It has two 

 somewhat close allies — Hierococcyx fugax, which inhabits the Malay 

 Peninsula and the adjacent islands of the Malay Archipelago, 

 Sumatra, Java, Borneo, &c. ; and Hierococcyx nisicolor, which 

 inhabits the Himalayas and Burma. 



