1845.] or little known species of Birds. 203 



Vigors), in Cue. tenuirostris y Gray, and its Malayan near ally, Cue. 

 merulinus (v. flavus). Raffles was aware of this variation of plumage in 

 Centr. Lathami, which he identifies with Cuculus tolu, Auct., (a Mada- 

 gascar species, or more probably variety of several alleged African spe- 

 cies, all of about the same size, as Centr. maurus, C. rufus, and C. sene- 

 galensis, Auct.,) which it undoubtedly makes a near approach to in 

 the instance of some specimens; but he certainly reverses the order 

 of progression in the states of plumage, in his remarks upon the latter, 

 cited in J. A- S. XI, 1 103. One young specimen, in undoubted 

 nestling garb, I have described in XII, 945 (at the end of the foot- 

 note) ; the second dress (probably more frequent in the female sex) 

 in XI, 1003; and the fully mature plumage as C. dimidiatus, toge* 

 ther with the notice of the young : in a fine series now before me, from 

 Bengal (vicinity of Calcutta), Cuttack, and Malasia, are some inter- 

 mediate to what I have now specified as the second and third phases, 

 but which were not killed during moult, the feathers themselves ap- 

 pearing as though they had been in process of changing colour ; but 

 I think it more likely that they had been put forth thus intermediate : 

 these have the rufous back more infuscated, a greater or less number 

 of the shafts of the feathers yellowish-white, on a black or rufous 

 ground, according to the part, and in one instance many intermixed 

 pale and barred feathers on the under parts, the black bars on some 

 of these being enlarged and more or less tending to blot the entire 

 feather. The Polophilus Lathami of Shaw is decidedly a specimen 

 in this imperfectly mature dress ; the thoroughly mature garb differ- 

 ing only from that of C. philippensis in the less deeply rufous hue of 

 the mantle and wings, but the species being readily distinguishable by 

 its much smaller size, and the shorter and deeper form of the bill. 



Analogous differences present themselves in the Centr. phasianus 

 of Australia; and I doubt not in the alleged African species, of several 

 of which I have suggested the identity, having no means of personally 

 investigating the problem. In the Malayan islands, the Centr. me- 

 lanops, Par. Mus., of Lesson's Traite, vide J. A. S. XII, 946, is pro- 

 bably also to be referred to C. Lathami ; and C. bicolor, ibid., perhaps 

 to the same, or to C. philippensis. A distinct species occurs in C. 

 viridis, Scop., Lath., (founded on the Coucou vert d? Antigue of Son- 

 nerat,) v. C. affinis, Horsf., vide J. A. S. XIII, 391 ; and another in 



C. bengalensis, Lath., (founded on the Lark-heeled Cuckoo of Brown's 



2g 



