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CUCULUS POLIOCEPHA LUS. 
Obs. I have examined a specimen of the Small Cuckoo from Madagascar, the Cuculus rochii of Hartlaub (P. Z. S. 1862, 
p. 224), and which is kept distinct from 0. poliocephalus by Mr. Sharpe in his admirable paper on the Cuckoos of 
the Ethiopian region, on account of its darker upper surface and the somewhat different banding of the under 
parts, the dark bars, according to him, being broader and the white interspaces wider. It is entirely the same as 
the Japanese specimen above described ; the upper surface has the same hue, and the breast and lower parts 
barred the same, the under tail-coverts having precisely the same buff hue. I think that the two species will have 
to be amalgamated ; and if so, the great range which the Small Cuckoo will then acquire will be only second to 
that of 0. canorus. 
Distribution. — The present species was described in the f Annals and Magazine of Natural History ’ by 
Layard as new, under the title C. bartlettii. His specimen was in immature plumage; and he writes of the 
bird that he obtained many examples of it both at Pt. Pedro and Colombo. Mr. Holdsworth does not seem 
to have identified it while he was in Ceylon, but speaks of a Cuckoo, closely resembling C. canorus, which he 
saw in an English garden in Colombo; and this I imagine, though it is very much smaller than the latter, 
must have, in reality, been this Cuckoo. It is, of course, migratory to Ceylon, and appears as isolated 
individuals on the west coast in October. Some years it is not seen at all, and during others several examples 
may perhaps come under the notice of collectors. Not a few were seen in the neighbourhood of Colombo in 
October 1876, one of which I procured at Borella, and another was shot near Kotte and preserved in the 
Colombo Museum. In December 1869 I obtained an example (immature, as are all which I have seen from 
Ceylon) on some trees at the lake side of the Galle face. It does not seem to have been noticed anywhere 
but in the J a fin a peninsula and about Colombo. It probably leaves the island in April. 
On the continent it appears to enjoy a wide rage ; but is found more often in Northern than in Southern 
India, which makes its occasional occurrence in Ceylon somewhat noteworthy. It is known from the Nilghiris, 
but less so from the low country in the south of the peninsula. Mr. Fairbanlc records it from Ahmednagar, 
and Jerdon procured it as far south on the east coast as Nellore. He says that it is found throughout the 
Himalayas, migrating sparingly to the plains in the cold weather. “At Darjiling/’ lie remarks further, “it is 
tolerably common, beginning its call still later in the season even than Cuculus himalayanus, this being rarely 
heard before the end of May, and continuing till the middle of July.” Dr. Stoliczka procured it in Ladak, 
and to the eastward of the Himalayas it extends all the way to China and Japan, in the latter of which 
countries it is not uncommon. Swinhoe received specimens from Amoy and Szechucn and from North-west 
Formosa. In Java Mr. Wallace procured it, his specimens being, according to Blyth, similar to those from 
“ the Himalayas and the Nilghiris,” and, he adds, “ from the mountains of Ceylon.” It is not clear how he 
identifies it from the latter locality, for, according to my knowledge, it does not affect the hill-region at all. 
A specimen from Morty Islands, in the British Museum, is identical in plumage with other examples of this 
Cuckoo which I have examined, but is much longer in the wing, measuring 6’8 inches. 
Habits. — The Small Cuckoo frequents low trees and stunted jungle near open places, and appears to be a 
tame bird, being stupidly heedless of observation, and allowing a near approach before taking wing. Jerdon 
remarks of it, “ It is a very noisy bird, and has a loud, peculiar, unmusical call, which it frequently utters 
both when seated on a branch and when flying from tree to tree.” “ The Bhootias,” he adds, “ attempt 
to imitate this in their name ( Pichu-giapu ) for the species.” 
It appears to feed much on caterpillars, one which I shot in my compound at the Colombo Lake being in 
the act of taking them from a plaintain-tree at the time. 
Nidification. — Mr. R. Thompson says this species lays in May and June. An egg, which Mr. Hume 
believes to belong to this species, was taken by Mr. Brooks from the nest of a Warbler ( Reguloides super- 
ciliosus ) , and is described as being an elongated, cylindrical ovate egg, and pure white and glossy ; it measured 
0'81 by 05 7 inch. 
