THE MALAYAN BEAIN-PEVEE BIED 
CacoyJiautis mcrHlimfs Ihroiodcs {Ciib. and Heine) 
Description: — In this small cuckoo the adults of both 
sexes are very much aUke in plumage but the young birds are 
ratlier different. 
In the adult the liead, neck, chin, throat and breast are 
ashy grey, the back and wings are earthy or dull brown, 
washed witli oily g-reen. The tail is black, the feathers tipped 
with white and varigated throughout their length with white 
spots and bars. The abdomen and under tail coverts are bright 
pale brown ("rich buff"). 
Young birds are quite rufous above and pale buff below, 
and are almost everywhere marked with dark brown, chiefly 
in the form of indistinct cross bars. From this barred im- 
mature plumage the birds gradually change into the adult 
dress. 
Distribuiion: — Forms of this small cuckoo arc found in 
Ceylon, India and north to China, thence south through Burma. 
Siam, the Malay Peninsula and the Malaysian Islands. Even 
to the east of this, in New Guinea and Australia occur birds 
which are probably no more than sub-specifically distinct from 
threnodes. 
Status in Singapore : —Fairly common in Singapore with- 
out behig really numerous . It is to be seen in a variety of 
situations, in the Botanic Gardens as well as in the mangroves. 
Field Notes-.— This is the small slender bird with the 
short neck and long tail that sits, all alone, on the very topmost 
twig of a tree or in a shrub and practises tuneful^but in time 
very monotonous — scales of several descending notes. To 
most resideiUs of Singapore its voice is more familiar than 
its general appearance and one rarely see more of the bird 
than the small shape, silhouetted against the sky for it flits 
from one tree top to another. 
The English name "brain-fever bird" is almost as suitable 
as the Malay name which means the deserted child and indeed 
the mournful little scale reminds one of the constant laments 
of someone bemoaning his fate. 
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