54 
avj:s. 
or four at a meal ; tlio Malays say that they sometimes go on 
to the sea-beaeh to eat small fish. Mr. Motley’s specimens 
were kept in a rattan-cage, and were chiefly fed upon boiled 
rice, rolled into balls, and which they bolted with great 
avidity ; they became very tame, and always greeted their 
feeder with a croak; on one occasion they bolted some 
ducklings, which yentured wdthin reach of their h i;aks. When 
first procured, one of these w'^as very young, an^l without any 
symptoms of a horn upon his head ; it grew, however, very^ 
rapidly. Small' flocks of these birds may sometimes be seen 
at dusk, flying steadily along over the tops of the jungle, and 
evidently bound for a long flight. Their note is a veiy harsli 
and discordant croak, uttered with the mouth wide open, and 
with a carious alternate movement of the floor of the montli 
and the short tongue at every repetition. It lasts sometimes 
for a minute or more, and is very striking w'hen heard in the 
woods ; it sounds something between the bray of an ass 
and the croak of a Landrail. 
Order Scan sores. 
Fam. Cuculidae. 
Sub-fanx. Coccyzina;. 
Gen. Centropus. 
Centropus philippensis (llorsf.). 
General colour black, excepting the wings and centre of the 
hack between them, wliicli parts are bright rufous. On some 
parts of the plumage, the crown of the head and neck more es- 
pecially, there are vivid steel-blue reflections when seen in a good 
light. 
Legs, claw s, and beak black. 
Tiiil much rounded, the outer feathers being six inches shorter 
than the centre feathers. 
The feathers on the head, neck, and back are rigid and bristly. 
Length, about 1 foot 9 1- inches. 
„ of bill, from gape, nearly 1. incli 9 lines. 
,, „ front, inch. 
of wings, 8-| inches. 
,, of tail, 1 inches. 
,, of tarsus, 2 inches 1 line. 
„ of middle toe, I inch 10;^- Jinch. 
of versatile toe, I inch 7 lines. 
,, of inner toe. 1 inch 9 lines. 
