222 



Catalogue of (he Birds 



dinary resemblance could hardly have failed to suggest, and which I 

 was glad to see that Mr. Hodgson had also adopted. Does this D, ngo 

 Cuckoo select the nest of the Dicrurus to deposit its eggs in? If so, 

 the foster parents would hardly be undeceived even when their progeny 

 were arrived at maturity. 



Genus OXYLOPHUS, Swains.- Cm ^e^^ CucJcoo. 



j 



226. — 0. edoIius.— Cuc. edolius, Auct. — C. aferawd. Cserratns, Gm. — 

 C. melanoleucos, Gmel.? — Leplosomus afer, of Franklin and Sykes' Cata.' 

 logues.—Popeya, H. — Black and white-crested Cuckoo. 



The Popeya is distributed over all India, but cannot be said to be a 

 common bird any where. It is of course most numerous in the more 

 wooded districts. I have seen it in the Carnatic, Malabar Coast, and 

 even on the bare Deccan, in low jungle or among gardens. It hmits 

 single or in pairs, and feeds chiefly on various soft insects, &c. On 

 the Neilgherries I have seen it occasionally about the edges of the 

 hills, frequenting the thick bushy ground there. 



Length 13 inches; wing 5|- j tail 6|; tarsus 1 yi^th; bill to front 

 tV^sj at gape 1 yV^h. ^ 



227. — O. Coromandus. — Cue. Coromandus, Lath. — Cue. CoUaris, 

 VieiU. 



I possess but one specimen of this bird, which I obtained alive at j 

 Madras, and have never seen another of the kind. 



Genus EUDYNAMYS, Vigors and Borsf.—Thick^bUled Cuckoos. 



228. — E. orientalis. — C. onentalls, Lin. — C mindanemis (the female)^ 

 also according to Lesson. — C. f>colopaceus. — C. crassirosirh. — C. punc' 

 tatus and C. maculatus of authors. — Koweel, H. Fein. — Koreyala^ 

 i. e, spotted Koweel. — /Toi^jee/ of Europeans in India. — Black Cuckoo, 



This well known bird is found in all parts of the peninsula, where > 

 there are a sufficiency of trees. It is common in the Carnatic in 

 groves, gardens and avenues, and also in the west coast, but rare in 

 the bare table land. It feeds entirely on fruit, and is remarkably fond 

 of the fig of the banian tree. It has a most peculiarly shrill and pierc- 

 ing call of two syllables, repeated frequently, and every time with in- 

 creased vigour, so that at the finale it is most piercingly loud. The 

 Koweel (as is well known in India) lays its eggs in the nest of the j 

 common crow (Corv. splendens), from which it dislodges the crow's 

 eggs. It is said always to choose this crow's nest. On one occasion I 



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