88 



BLACK INDIAN CUCKOW. 



tail wedge-shaped, four inches and a half long i 

 legs reddish-brown : claws blackish : found at 

 Bengal, and called Coukeel, most probably from 

 repeating that word. 



This species frequents woods, and for the most 

 part flies in small flocks, rarely singly : it is held 

 in veneration by the Mahometans ; but by others 

 the flesh is accounted delicate, a single bird being 

 sometimes sold to the lovers of good eating for 

 twenty-four livres. 



BLACK INDIAN CUCKOW. 

 (Cuculus Indicus.) 



C. cauda rotundata, corpore nigro, alis rectricibusque ad apicem 

 lineis transversis tribus albis, 



Cuckow with a rounded tail, black body, and the wings and tail- 

 feathers with three narrow white lines at the tip. 



Cuculus indicus. Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 211. 11. 



Eastern Black Cuckow. Lath. Syn. Sup, Qg. 



This bird, which is supposed by Dr. Latham 

 to be a variety of C. orientalis, is undoubtedly a 

 distinct species : it is in length sixteen inches : 

 beak whitish and strong : prevailing colour of the 

 plumage black, with three narrow bars of white 

 across the wings, and the same near the tip of the 

 tail : legs pale blue : is found in India, where it is 

 called CoweeL 



Dr. Latham mentions that there are two or 

 three species of Cuckows, known by the name of 

 Kuill, or Coweel, in India ; one as large as a Jay : 

 all of them frequent woods. 



