COCCYSTES JACOBINUS. 
247 
another from Ecu, wing 5-9: both are identical with Ceylonese examples. Mr. Sharpe unites the African 
species with the Indian. A specimen from Daman Land, described by him he. «t., had the wmg 6-4 and the 
tail 8'0 inches. 
Distribution. — The Pied Cuckoo, which is a showy species, is widely distributed over the low country ol 
Cevlon, hut is subject to a partial migration away from the wet regions on the western and south-western 
sea-board during the prevalence of the S.W. monsoon. It appears about Colombo in Novem er an ecem ci, 
and, when first arrived, lurks in any thick cover that may be to hand. I have, seen it m t le !ees on , 
borders of the Slave-Island lake, but it soon disappeared for the jungles of the interior. In the Galle district 
it arrives about the same time and frequents the low jungle in the cultivated portions of the country In 
the scrubby jungles of the Girawa and Magam Pattus and throughout the Eastern Province, m the jungles 
between the Mahawelliganga and the coast, in the maritime portions of the north j^d wes^ as 
Chilaw it is a resident species, and in some of these districts is abundant. It is partial to those dry dis i ic m 
which are covered with low scrub, such as the neighbourhood of Hambantota auc many sinn ui s 
east coast, the Jaffna peninsula, the N.W. coast, and the island of Manaar, as also the Puttalam and Clnlaw 
district. I have seen it occasionally in the interior of the northern division of the island, but scaicei 
there than in the maritime portion. It ranges into the Central Province to a considerable elevation occurring 
in Uva up to 3000 feet ; but in the western portions (to wit, the valley of Dumbara and adjacent district.) 
is not found at such an altitude. f 
This Cuckoo enjoys a wide range on the main land. Jerdon sketches out its distribution as follows . 
« It i s found all over India, being rare on the Malabar coast, common in the Carnatic, and not uncommon 
throughout Central India to Bengal, where it is only at all common in the rains It is more abundant m 
Upper Pegu than anywhere else that I have observed it .... I have seen it on the Nilghins up to 
r ' m ’luL not appear to be found on the hills of the peninsula, but is eornmon in the low country, on the 
Madura coast, and in Ranrisseru.u Island. In Chota Nagpur it occurs rarely, as also m the Sambhnr drstnet 
A, regards Mount Aboo and Northern Guscrat, Captain Butler says rt is very common, .. . vmg “ 
the monsoon. In Cachar, Mr. Inglis met with it but once, and that was m May ; hut m 
that Captain Butler and Mr. Oates corroborate Jerdon m saying that it is common fi HumeN first 
that it ha. not been aetnall, procured in Tcnasserim, though it is donbtul^ included m .Mr Ham first 
list of birds from that Province. In North-east Africa it is, according to Mr Shaipe, probably a mig , 
and has been found in various parts of that region from August to November. Mr. Blanford has procured it 
m the Anseba valley, Antinori on the Blue Nile, and Ehrenberg m Nubia. It has been met with on > 
cast coast and in various parts of South Africa, in Natal, the Transvaal, and other localities, and 
south-west of the continent it has been obtained in Damara Land. 
Habits— Low scrub, thorny jungle round the edge of forest, and open plains dotted here and there with 
brush-wood are the localities chiefly frequented by this Cuckoo , but it now and then occurs ™ avenges of 
trees or isolated shady groves, particularly when newly arrived in a district and the first cover to hand is be b 
eagerly sought after. It is tame and usually solitary, although now and then I have seen a pair together ; and 
in Pegu Mr. Oates has observed five or six in company. It is commonly seen sitting on the top of a low bus t 
and when flushed takes a short flight, but does not seek concealment in the bushes to any great extent. 1 
has a rather plaintive, not unmelodious call, uttered when perched on some low tree ; but at the commencemen 
of the breeding-season, Mr. Holdsworth writes, “ they are very noisy and incessantly flying from one place to 
mother one or more males apparently chasing the female, and uttering their clamorous cries.” Jerdon 
remarks the same fact, and says that the call which the males utter at this time “ is a high-pitched metal ic 
'^^Its diet is insectivorous, consisting of caterpillars and various larvte, grasshoppers, Mantidse, &c. 
Nidification.- In Ceylon the Pied Crested Cuckoo lays its eggs during the N.E monsoon, choosing 
nest of the Mud-birds or Babblers ( Malacocercus ) to deposit them in. Mr. Holdsworth observed i 
