Birds of Celebes: Cuculidae. 
217 
Adult females. Length. 362 — 380 mm; expanse 463 — 476; wing 165 — 173; tail 
213 — 218; tarsus 41 — 43; hill from gape 32; hind toe claw inside 23 — 28. 
“And the bills are not only longer, hut markedly stouter as a body than those 
of the males.” 
From the careful measurements of Hume, Blasius, and Salvador! who 
independently obtain similar results, it is obvious that Mr. Oates’s statement, that 
“the female is of about the same size as the male” (111), is not correct; so, too, the 
measurements of Oapt. Shelley (e 8, tv 1), which suggest an equal size of the sexes, 
are misleading. 
Variation. It is of interest to note that the males and females of South Celebes measured 
by Blasius and Platen are respectively much larger than the males and females 
of Malacca — India measured by Hume; while Salvadori’s Moluccan specimens are 
still larger than those of Blasius. 
Distribution. India — Himalayas from JSTepal to Sikkim and Assam (e 8, e 4, 11)] Central 
India (Ball / 5, etc., e 8)\ South India — Wynaard (Davison 112)] Travancore 
(Bourdillon e 8)] Kliasia Hills (Chennell e8, G-riffith tv 1)] Manipur (Hume 
113)] Upper Pegu (Oates 13)] Burmah (Oates 111)] Tenasserim (Davison e 5, 
Bingham e 6)] South China (Swinh. o 7, De La Touche e 5) ; Formosa and Hainan 
(Swinh. 0 1, 0 2, David e 2)] Siam (tide Oates 111, Tweedd. Coll, e 8)] Cochin 
China (fide Oates 111)] Salanga (A. Mlill. 1 10)] Malacca (Davison e 8, Hume ^ 7, 
Kelham 18)] Penang (Brit. Mus. e 8)] Bunguran (Hose w 7); Singapore (Davison 
e 8, Hume I 7, Kelham I 8)] Sumatra (Beccari p 6, H. 0. Forbes p> 7, ? Klaesi 
n 2, Modigl. 1 15)] Banka (v. d. Bossche g 2)] Java (Horsf. cl, d 1, H. O. Forbes 
p 7, Vorderman etc.); Bah (Doherty tv 8)] Lombok (Vorderman, Doherty 
tv 5, tv 8)] Sumhawa (Forsten g 2, Griiillem. h 6)] Satonda and Sumha (Doherty 
tv 8)] Flores (Wall, e 8)] Timor (Wall, g 2, e 8)] Borneo (Schwaner g 2, Mottley 
Doria & Beccari p 5, etc.); Phihppine Is. (B. & W. tv 4, Whitehead tv 9)] Palawan 
(Whitehead k7, k8, Platen p 10)] Sooloo Is. (Gluillem. o 3, Platen p 14)] 
Talaut Is. (Nat. Coll.); Oreat Sangi and Siao (Meyer k 5)] Tagulandang (Kat. Coll.); 
Celebes — Lemheh Id. (Guillem, k 6)] BanLa and Menado tua (Kat. Coll., Dresd. 
M.); Minahassa (Meyer k 2, k 3, Beccari p 4, etc.); Gorontalo (Forsten g 2)] 
Balante, E. Cel. (Kat. Coll.); Kandari, S. E. Penin. (Beccari 4); Luwu (Weber 
p 18)] Palopo (P. & F. Sarasin); Macassar (Wall, e S, Weber g? 78); Mar os Water- 
fall (Platen y? 8, Weherjj78); Amboina, Ceram, Bum, Halmahera, Ternate, Tidore, 
Batchian (Salvad. q 2). 
The Coucal, or “Lark-heeled Cuckoo”, now under consideration has been 
split up by various authorities — by Cabanis and Heine into 5, by Walden 
into 6, by Shelley into 2 species, but upon grounds which are very unsatis- 
factory. Cabanis and Heine laboured under the disadvantage of having 
insufficient material, each form being represented in only one or two specimens; 
but two of the species recognised, C. lepidus Horsf. and C. affinis Horsf., 
are, as W. Blasius has now satisfactorily proved (p 8), the male and female of the 
same species. By Shelley two races, C. hengalensis and C. javanicus, hardly 
distinguishable at the best, are recorded as occurring together in the same 
months of the year in the hill-country ofK.E. India, in Pegu, and in Formosa. 
Were the means of distinction employed by Shelley allowed, both could also 
be recorded from Celebes. What is worse, Shelley is divided in his own mind 
Meyer & Wigles worfhj Birds of 06161)68 (Oct. 23rd, 1897). 28 
