THE LESSER COUCAL. 
127 
size^ wing 7*5 to 8*2 inches, and red interscapnlary region ; and C. rufi- 
pennis, which is about the same size as C. intermedins, by the entire 
absence of red on the interscapnlary region. C. acheenensis is a species 
described by Messrs. Hume and Davison from North-west Sumatra ; it 
belongs to the blue-tailed section, and differs from C. eurycercus in being 
much smaller. I have not been able to examine a specimen of this 
species. 
Mr. Swinhoe (P. Z. S. 1871, p. 393) makes the following remarks :— 
I can find no distinctive characters between the Chinese and Bengalese 
specimens but birds from Siam have the back chestnut as well as the 
scapulars, = C eurycercus, A. Hay.''"' I gathered from this that the Chinese 
bird has no red on the back, and therefore it cannot be C. intermedius but 
Chinese birds which I have examined in the Swinhoe collection have the 
interscapnlary region chestnut, and appear to me to be inseparable from 
Burmese examples. 
TheBurmese Coucal is distributed over the whole of BritishBurmah. Capt. 
Wardlaw Ramsay records it from the Karin hills, but not from Karennee. 
It extends through the Indo-Burmese countries to Eastern Bengal, and 
appears to be spread over China, 
The Burmese Coucal is one of those birds which is known to every resi- 
dent in the Province, both from its striking plumage and its loud call. 
The latter consists of a series of deep-sounding hoots. It frequents thick 
entangled jungle, and feeds almost entirely on the ground, on large insects 
and small reptiles. In July or August it makes an immense nest, domed 
at the top, about a foot and a half high and fully a foot in diameter. It 
is chiefly made of grass, but leaves, and sometimes twigs, are incorporated 
with the structure. It is placed in trees at a considerable height from the 
ground, and also in elephant- grass. The eggs, two or three in number, are 
white. This bird is better known perhaps by the name ^'^Crow Pheasant.^'' 
610. CENTROCOCCYX BENGALENSIS, 
THE LESSER COUCAL. 
Cuculus bengalensis, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 412. Centropus bengalensis, Jerd. 
B. Ind. i. p. 350 j Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 144 ; Bl, B. Burm. p. 82 ; David 
ei Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 59 j Oates, S. F. v. p. 146 ; Hume Dav. S. F. vi. p. 171 ; 
Gammie, S. F. v. p. 385 ; Bingham, S. F. ix. p. 169. Centrococcyx benga- 
lensis, Wald. Trans. Zool. Soc. viii. p. 69 ; Hume, S. F. ill. p. 84, viii. p. 89 ; Oates, 
S. F. X. p. 196 ; Kelham, Ibis, 1881, p. 395. 
Description. — Male and female in summer. Head, neck and lower plumage 
• black glossed with purple, the shafts glistening black ; wings, coverts. 
