222 BOMBAY DUCKS 
as big as the mythical roc; but this would profit the 
Pe ic bird little : the king-crow would stand up to it. 
t is by craft net by “bluff,” sthat the cuckoo succeeds 
“In “scoring off ” thesdn go. Surniculus lugubris is, 
perhaps, the most wonderful example of mimicry in 
nature. It has adopted the dress of the drongo. It is 
black all over and has a forked tail. It is said to bea 
very uncommon cuckoo. 
I do not know whether I have ever seen a live species 
or not, for I cannot distinguish it from a king-crow. 
I am not ashamed of this admission: for the king-crow 
himself is in this respect no better off than I am. I 
submit that if A cannot distinguish B from his (A’s) 
own brother, it is surely not to be expected that I, 
a stranger, can do so! 
The drongo-cuckoo has a smart appearance and a 
straight flight, and thus differs from the majority of 
cuckoos, which are slovenly birds, the kind of birds 
which, if they wore clothes, would slouch about with 
their hands in their pockets and their hats on the back 
of the head. The drosigo-cuckoo, the lion in the ass’s 
skin, is allowed to hover about in the neighbourhood 
of a king-crow’s nest, and seizes the opportunity of 
depositing an egg when the back of the owner of the 
nest is turned. 
India boasts of some respectable cuckoos, that is 
to say, cuckoos which build nests and do not shirk 
parental responsibilities. The best known of these 
is that widely distributed bird, the coucal, or crow- 
pheasant. He is a personage of sufficient importance 
to demand a chapter to himself. 
