coucal. 245 



black ; wing coverts part rufous, part black ; quills wholly deep 

 rufous, with the ends dusky black ; feathers of the head and neck 

 remarkably stiff, and glossy on their edges, so as to resemble pins ; 

 the tail about the length of the body, cuneiform, or much rounded at 

 the end, and the wings reach just beyond the coverts; legs stout, 

 glossy black, the inner hind claw strait, and, in old birds, is some- 

 times two inches in length. 



The female a fourth part less than the male. The black inclines 

 to brown on all the fore parts ; and the spur at the inner heel half an 

 inch shorter. 



M. Levaillant killed a pair of these about Swart Rivier, at some 

 distance from the Cape of Good Hope, in the act of feeding on car- 

 rion, with other birds of prey. He also found, on dissection, the 

 remains of insects in the stomach ; not that he is certain of their 

 feeding on the carrion itself, but probably on the insects, or larvae, 

 of such as are nourished by it. 



9 —LONG-HEELED COUCAL. 



Cuculus Tolu, Ind. Orn. i. 213. Gm. Lin. i. 422. 



■ Madagascariensis, Bris. iv. 138. t. 13. 2. Id. 8vo. ii. 80. 

 Polophilus Tolu, Tolu Coucal, Gen. Zool. ix. p. 52. 

 Coucou de Madagascar, Buf. vi. 369. t. 17. PI. enl. 295. 1. 

 Long-heeled Cuckow, Gen. Syn. ii. 524. 



LENGTH fourteen inches. Bill brown, one inch long; head, 

 throat, neck behind, and upper part of the back covered with longish, 

 narrow, stiff feathers, blackish, with a rufous white stripe down each 

 shaft ; those on the throat, the fore part of the neck, and breast the 

 same, but only a longish stripe on each side ; lower part of the back, 

 rump, belly, sides, thighs, upper and under tail coverts greenish black; 

 scapulars, upper and under wing coverts, fine chestnut, the shafts 



