HIEROCOCCYX VAKIUS. 
241 
int0 brown on a white ground-colour, the bands being at the same time edged with rufous ; thigh- 
coverts, vent, and under tail-coverts pure white; under wing-coverts buff, cross-rayed with brown ; under surface 
of the quill-bars pure white. 
You»q Above dark cinereous brown, barred on the lower part of the hind neck, back, scapulars, and wing- 
coverts with rufous; on the hind neck the bases and margins of the feathers are of this colour ; primaries 
and secondaries barred exteriorly with rufous, internally with buff, shading into rufous near the shaft s ad- 
feat, hers tipped with rufous and white, the subterminal bar very broad, and the remaining four more developed 
than in the adult, the pale succeeding cross rays being rufous and the interspaces ashen; on the three late a 
pairs of feathers the cross rays are whitish on the inner webs: forehead ami crown ashen brown, scarcely marked 
with rufous • beneath huffy white, the throat and fore neck marked with broad mesial stine oh cinereous blown . 
the feathers’ on the sides of the neck edged with rufous; breast with angular transverse spots of the same, 
which become more bar-like on the flanks ; belly and under tail-coverts unmarked ; under wing-coverts 
barred with brown. 
Obs The closely allied species, H. nisicolor of Hodgson, from the Himalayas, may Mr. Hume writes, be distinguished 
from the present by the young not having any barring on the flanks or abdomen, and also by its daikei uppe 
surface at all stages. It is, however, not likely ever to occur in Ceylon, as the larger form, H sparvenoides, 
common in South India, and which even migrates to China, has not yet been detected m the island. 
Distribution— This noisv Cuckoo arrives on the shores of Ceylon about the beginning of November, and 
makes its way at once to the hills, taking up its abode in considerable numbers in the forests of the main 
‘ e It is' common about Nuwara Elliya, Kandapolla, and the “ plains ” lying between the Sanatorium and 
Totanella On the Horton Plains themselves it is no less numerous, frequentmg the picturesque woods which 
dot this beautiful and lonely spot. Layard was the first to record it from Ceylon, and writes that he shot 
three specimens in the old Botanical Gardens at Kew, Colombo; these were evidently new arrivals. Mr 
Holdsworth met with it, as I did, at Newara Elliya, at the beginning of the year, and Mr. Ll.gh procured it 
hi Kotmalie in the month of November. He writes me that it is not uncommon m the Haputale range and 
that it was yearly to be found on the Harangolla patnas in considerable numbers making itself heard by 
night as well as by day. Messrs. Whyte and Co. have lately sent home a specimen lulled in the Ivandy district, 
and I have no doubt it takes up its seasonal quarters on the slopes o t le e* j “l^da ins of India beirg 
On the mainland the Hawk-Cuckoo is, says Jerdon, the common species of the plains < 
found throughout the whole country, though most abundant m wooded districts. Mi. Bonidillon writes ol 
it that it is abundant in the semi cultivated land of the plains of Travancore penetrating the jungles at the 
foot of the hills to 1000 feet elevation, but that it does not ascend the Ml-s opes to any height, though 
common in the low country. Mr. Fairbanks experience of it m the Palam hills is similar; he found it at 
the base and on the sides of the range only ; it is singular, therefore, that it should resort to Jewy hig 
points in Ceylon. In Khandala it is common ; and concerning its distribution in Chota N agpur Mr. Ball y 
that it is found in the jungly parts of the Province and that it inhabits the Rajmahal hills. In Jaipur ana 
the south of Raipur, he remarks that it occurs in such abundance that its cry is a ' positive nuisance and sour 
of irritation both by day and night !” More towards the north-west of India it appears to he only a seasonal 
visitant; for Capt. Butler, in his very complete list of animal migrations to the Mount-Aboo district (Stray 
Feathers/ 1877), records it as only remaining during the rainy monsoon to wit, from June until Oc o iei. 
Habits. Unlike many of the Cuckoos, which are silent in the non-breeding season, the present species is 
extremely noisy at all times ; it frequents the high jungle in the upper ranges of the Ceylon lulls, and is 
liartial to the vicinity of the open grassy spaces called “ plains ” on the Nuwara-Elhya plateau. Its singular 
male-like call, which is uttered while the bird twists its head round, is very characteristic of this region. In 
January it may he heard the whole morning in the picturesque woods on the Horton Plains, literally throwing 
its neculiar high-pitched notes in all directions: at one moment they seem to he in the distance; at the next, 
when it turns its head towards the listener, they swell with strange force on the ear, mounting lngher and 
higher until the bird appears to he obliged to stop. C endo 
Jerdon writes of it as follows It frequents gardens, avenues, groves, and jungles, and its loud c.em 
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