1840.] of the Peninsula of India. 21Q 



Family CUCULID.E— Cuckoos. 



Sub Family CUCULINiE, Sw. — Parasitic Cuckoos. 



Genus CUCULUS, L. 



221. — C. canorus, L. — Cuckoo of Europe. 



The European Cuckoo, said by Franklin to be so common in Bengal, 

 is rarely met with south of N. lat. 20. Its well known note was 

 frequently heard in Goomsoor. Colonel Sykes too mentions it as 

 found, though rarely, in the Bombay Deccan, and I obtained a speci- 

 men of what, I conceive, may be the young of this bird, as far south as 

 the Tapoor pass (N. lat. 11°), and have seen the sime bird apparently 

 once or twice in wild jungly districts on the table land. I add a brief 



description of my bird, as I am by no means certain that it is the same 

 as the European Cuckoo. 



Descr. — Above brownish cinereous, the feathers all edged with white; 

 beneath white, transversely barred with dusky brown ; bill blackish ; 

 yellow at base ; legs, toes and claws yellow. 



Length 14 inches ; wing8f; tail 7; tarsus T Vhs j bill to front -r^ths. 

 at gape 1 T %ths. Should my bird prove to be a different species from 

 the European Cuckoo, it is perhaps the C. tenuirpstris of Lesson. 



222. — C. fvgax, Horsf.— Bye han Cuckoo, Lath. — Koopuk, H.— = 

 Oopuk, of some. — Pipeeha in Bengal from its note. — Indian Cuckoo. 



The Indian Cuckoo is found all over the peninsula in the more 

 wooded districts, not only in thick jungles but also in groves and 

 gardens. It is very numerous in the thickly wooded western coast, 

 and its loud, shrill crescendo notes, very similar to those of the 

 Koweel, are heard in every avenue. It flies very like the Shikra, and 

 it is frequently pursued by small birds, probably under that impression. 



The Koopuk lives chiefly on fruit, especially the fig of the banian 

 tree, occasionally, however, on caterpillars, and other soft insects. 

 I extract the following from Mr. Elliot's notes regarding its peculiar 

 cry: " The note is whe-wheewa, whe-wheewa, whe-wheewa, uttered 8 

 or 10 times, and sometimes oftener. The first syllables lower, gra- 

 dually rising till the last become extremely loud and shrill." 



The dark spots on the breast and belly of this bird, have the same 

 character as those of the hawks, being longitudinal in the young bird, 

 and becoming transverse with age. 



