Birds of Celebes: Cuculidae. 
215 
Hartert, Nov. Zool. 1895, 475; (8) id., ib. 1896, 552, 562, 572, 575, 586, 595; 
(9) Grant, Ibis 1896, 474. 
X. Centropus bengalensis lepidus (1) Hartert, Kat. Mus. Senckenb. 1891, 150 (Java); (2) 
id., Ornis 1891, 122. 
“Burong kussu-kussu” (Bird of tbe high grass), Manado, Meyer k 5; Nat. Coll., Dresd. Mus. 
“Totombarang”, inland name, Minahassa, Meyer k 3. 
“Kuluket”, Guillem, k 6 or “Koloket”, Nat. Coll., Dresd. M., inland name near Manado. 
“Kalukku”, Maros, S. Celebes, Platen p 8. 
“Arooa” or “Aeroota”, Talaut, Nat. Coll. 
“Karoko”, Balante, E. Celebes, iid. 
For further synonymy and references see Salvad. yj 3, q 2\ Cab. & Heine y i, k 1, 1 1, m 7, 
n 1\ Shelley e S, iv 1. 
Descriptions. Hume & Davison e 5; David & Onstalet e 2; A. Muller 110] Oates 111] 
Salvador! q 2] W. Blasius p> 8] Shelley e S, iv 1] Blanford e 12. 
Adult male. Head, neck, mantle and all tbe under parts black, glossed with greenish 
on the upper parts and chest, more sooty on the lower under parts; the shafts of 
all the feathers spinous and stiff, jet black; wings cinnamon-rufous, the ends of the 
primaries, the inner secondaries and scapulars brown with a slight gloss; back sooty; 
upper tail-coverts and tail black glossed with bronze-green; quills below purer 
rufous than above; under wing-coverts cinnamon-rufous, slightly varied with brown 
(N. Celebes, C 3579). “Iris dark brown; bill black; feet slate-grey” (Platen p 8). 
Nearly adult male. Differs in having the gloss on head, neck and chest blue-black; mantle, 
like inner quills, deep reddish brown contrasting with the neck, shafts whitish; back 
and rump black, barred with wood-broAvn; upjoer tail-coverts glossed with bluish, tail 
with bronze-green, terminally fringed with rufous and an imperfect bar of the same 
on some of the lateral feathers (Maros, S. Celebes, 16. H. 1878, C 12081). 
Adult female. Like the adult male, but much larger, the gloss on the head and neck possibly 
a shade bluer (S. Celebes, Eeb., C 12082). 
Nearly adult female. Like the nearly adult male, but not quite so far advanced in coloration: 
many of the feathers in the black plumage of head, neck, and underparts with some 
part of the shaft white (usually the tip, sometimes the middle); under parts black 
varied Avith pale fawn-colour alongside the Avhite portion of the shaft (Nr. 7093). 
Younger female. Head and hind-neck black as the last, but most of the feathers with part 
of the shafts and the adjacent part of feather fulvous white, forming a narroAV streak; 
beloAv pale cinnamon-taAvny Avith pale shafts, barred with dusky on the sides and thighs, 
and varied with some black feathers barred AAutli taAvny ; wings and tail still much as 
in adult; iqAper tail-coverts barred with taAAmy brown. (Near Manado, C 10873.) Bill 
blackish horn-colour, paler at the base.^) 
First plumage [male and female] ^). Head and neck taAAmy-cinnamon, the sides and bases of 
the feathers black, giving a streaked appearance; on mantle, back and wings the black 
1) This specimen does not uphold Prof. W. Blasius’ view [p 8, p. 270) that the change of coloration 
in this species very likely takes place on the head and body — not Avings and tail — without moulting, as 
it is obviously moulting, but the former specimen (Nr. 7093) with the same particoloured appearance below 
does not show any trace of moulting. We, however, take this simply for the ordinary second plumage. A 
nestling of C. sinensis in the possession of Mr. DeLaTouche, bought 26ti August, 1886, assumed the adult 
plumage in the following summer ; it began to shoAV in patches in the early spring, but unfortunately Mr. D e 
La Touche does not say whether the feathers were moulted or not (Ibis 1892, 480). 
2; Mr. Oates makes the unexpected statement that the adults in winter plumage are clothed like young 
birds in first plumage (I 9, I 11). We have specimens in the ordinary adult dress from Celebes, Talaut, Sangi, 
Tagulandang and Ceram dated January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, October, November. 
