222 
CUCULUS CANOBUS. 
Adult male (Kotmalie). Length 13'5 inches ; wing 8 - 6 ; tail 7 m 2 ; tarsus 085; outer anterior toe and claw 1-1 ; bill 
to gape 1-17. 
These are the dimensions of a very fine example shot in Ceylon. I subjoin others from specimens procured in different 
parts of the world, beginning with those contained in Dr. Scully’s very complete notice of Eastern-Turkestan 
Cuckoos. 
( 1 ) 
( 2 ) 
Length. Expanse. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Tarsus. 
Bill from gape. 
Weight. 
in. in. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
oz. 
Eive males. Yarkand . . . 
12-8 to 14-0 23-0 to 24-0 
8'5 to 8 - 9 
7-0 to 7-7 
0-8 to 1-0 
P15 to l - 3 
3 - 2 to 4-c 
Two females, juv., rufous. 
Yarkand 
12-3 to 13-2 22-8 to 23-5 
8 - 0 to 8'5 
6'G to 6-9 
0-9 . 
1-15 to 1-2 
2-8 to 3-f 
Examples in Brit. Mus.: — 
Athens 
13'0 (from skin) 
8-9 
6-8 
0-8 
Germany 
8-5 
7-0 
0-85 
1-2 
Persia 
8-6 
7-0 
N.W. Province 
8-9 
7-0 
0-9 
1-1 
$ . “ India ” 
8-3 
c J . Sweden 
8-9 
7‘5 
0-9 
1-2 
Iris yellow, pale yellow ; bill, upper mandible and tip of lower blackish, base of under mandible greenish yellow ; 
gape and eyelid yellow ; inside of mouth red ; legs and feet yellow ; claws dusky. 
Above dusky bluish ashen, with a slight greenish gloss generally on the interscapular region ; the rump and upper tail- 
coverts more bluish than the back ; quills plain brown, crossed on the inner webs with pointed marginal bars of 
white, reaching to within about 2 inches from the tips of the longer primaries ; winglet and primary-coverts darker 
than the quills ; edge of the wing beneath the winglet white ; tail blackish, with a slaty hue ; the tips of the 
feathers white; the five lateral feathers on each side with central white spots, sometimes limited to one in 
number, and marginal indentations of the same on the inner webs and sometimes on both ; the outermost 
feathers more spotted than the rest. 
Throat and fore neck delicate ashen, blending on the sides into the darker hue of the hind neck ; from the chest down- 
wards white, crossed with narrow wavy bars of blackish, broadest on the flanks ; vent and base of under tail-coverts 
unmarked ; under wing-coverts white, marked as the chest ; a wash of slate-colour along the under edge of the 
wing. 
Young. Variable in plumage ; more or less marked with rufous. 
Above greenish brown, the green lustre very strong in some ; the head, hind neck, back, and lesser wing-coverts with 
white tips to the feathers ; quills and primary-coverts mostly barred with rufous, the inner parts of the bars 
whitish ; tail more boldly spotted than in the adult, the white spots running into rufous adjacent patches ; under 
surface buffy white, with bolder and darker bars than in the adult, which extend also to the throat, where they are 
closer together than on the breast. There is often a white nuchal patch. 
After moulting the nest-plumage, specimens have the lower part of the throat and also the chin washed with buff, and 
the lower parts often retain the buff tinge ; the bars are darker and sharper-edged than in old birds. 
Rufous phase of young. Barred more or less on the whole upper surface with rufous bands, occasionally very broad, 
and predominating on the rump and upper tail-coverts over the slaty-brown ground-colour; the under surface is 
white as in others, barred with bold black bands. 
Ohs. Although the moderately close character of the barring which distinguishes adults of this Cuckoo from others is 
the same in all specimens, yet I notice a considerable variation in the bars themselves, consisting in their width 
and in the appearance of the edges, some being more softened off than others. 
Cabanis and Heine separated the Indian Cuckoo, alleging that it was a smaller bird than the European ; but the 
specimens which they had to deal with were doubtless those of O. himalayanus , now recognized to be quite distinct 
from C. canons. 
Distribution. There have been two instances of the occurrence of the Common Cuckoo in Ceylon; and 
it is only to be wondered that a bird in which the migratory instinct is so powerful as in this interesting 
