CATALOGUE. 
695 
seen it occasionally about the hedges of the hills, frequenting the 
thick bushy ground there. I obtained one young bird in the nest of 
Malacocercus griseiis, in a thick hedge at Coimbatoor. It has a loud 
peculiar call, which it only appears to utter when on the wing." — 
(Jerdon.) 
" A common species in Bengal. From what I have observed of 
this bird, it is not one which affects much concealment, but frequently 
sits exposed on a dead or bare branch. I have never heard from it 
any note resembling the sound Popiya, but only a continuously 
reiterated simple cry, by no means loud." — (Blyth.) 
Mr. W. Theobald, jun., obtained the egg of this species " from the 
nest of Malacocercus caudatits in August, wherein were four ordinary 
eggs, which it closely resembles in colour, though its form indicates 
its parasitical cliaracter. Egg deep greenish-blue ; one only ; blunt 
oval form ; size §:|i."_(J. A. S. Beng. XXIII. p. 599.) 
In Ceylon this is "abundant in open plains dotted with low 
bushes, from Hambantotte to Jaffna. It sits upon the tops of the 
Euphorbia trees, and utters a chattering cry. Shooting one morning 
in the vicinity of Point Pedro, I observed a pair of Mud birds 
(^Malacocercus hengalensis), which hovered about an isolated bush 
with all the solicitude of parent birds attending upon a nest of young 
ones ; when I drew near, they flew before me, feigning lameness, and 
endeavoured to draw off my attention from some object in the bush ; 
this I soon found was a young OxylopJius melanoleucos, which I cap- 
tured, the Mud birds meanwhile flying about my head, uttering the 
most unmistakable cries of distress. I found no other young bird or 
nest in the bush, which was a small one, and am convinced that 
these were foster-parents to the young cuckoo." — (E. L. Layard.) 
Genus Surniculus, Lesson, Tr. d'Orn. p. 151 (1831). 
PsEUDOENis, Hodgson, J. A. 8. Beng. YIII. p. 136 
(1839). 
1015. SURNICULUS LUGUBRIS, Horsfield Sp. 
Cuculus lugubris, Horsjield, Trans. Linn. Soc. XIII. 
p. 179 (1821). {Zool. Bes. in Java, t. 58.) Lath., 
Hist. ofB. III. p. 286. G. B. Gray, Gen. ofB. II. 
p. 463. 
Surniculus lugubris, Lesson, Tr. d' Orn. p. 151. Blyth, 
J. A. S. Beng. XII. p. 244 ; Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. 
Beng. J). 72. Bonap., C. G. Av. p. 105. 
