Genus CENTROPUS. 
Bill very strong, high at base, well curved throughout. Nostrils lateral, and protected by a 
membrane. Wings rounded, the 6th quill the longest. Tail long, wide, considerably graduated. 
Tarsi stout and shielded with broad transverse scales, longer than the anterior toe with its claw. 
Toes stoutly scaled; hind claw very long and straight. Feathers of the head, neck, and throat 
spinous. 
CENTEOPES EUEIPENNIS. 
(THE COMMON COUCAL.) 
Centropus rujipennis, Illiger, Abhandl. Akad. Wiss. Berl. (1812) p. 224 ; Horsf. & Moore, 
Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 681 (1856); Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 348 (1862); Holcls- 
worth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 433 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1872, p. 15 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs (Bough 
Draft), p. 142 (1873); Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 16; Morgan, Ibis, 1875, p. 315. 
Centropus philippensis, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 98 ; Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1842, p. 1099 ; id. 
Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1847, p. 385 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 78 (1849) ; Kelaart, 
Prodromus, Cat. p. 128 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 450. 
Centropus castanopterus, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiv. i. p. 215 (1826). 
Centropus pyrrhopterus, Jerdon, Cat. B. S. Ind., Madr. Journ. 1840, xi. p. 224. 
Centrococcyx rujipennis, Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 394; Fairbank, Str. Feath. 1877, p. 397. 
The Philippine Ground-Cuckoo , Kelaart ; The “ Crow-Pheasant ,” Europeans in India and 
Ceylon, also “ Jungle-Crow ,” in Ceylon; “ Lark-heeled Cuckoo ,” Jerdon’s Catalogue. 
Mahoka, Hind. ; Kulca, Beng. ; Marmowa, at Monghyr ; Jemudu-kaki, lit. “ Euphorbia 
Pledge-Crow,” Tel. ; Kalli-kaka , lit. “ Hedge-Crow,” Tam. ( J erdon). 
PEtti-kukkula, Sinhalese ; Chembigmn, Ceylonese Tamils. 
Adult male and female. Length 17'5 to 18-5 inches ; wing 7'3 to 8 - l ; tail 9'5 to 10'0 ; tarsus 1'9 to 2’0 ; outer 
anterior toe (with claw) 1'75 to 1-9 ; hind toe 0-6, its claw 0-8 to 083 ; bill to gape 1'65 to 1-85. 
Females appear to average larger than males. 
Iris vermilion ; eyelid blackish leaden ; hill black ; legs and feet black. 
Entire plumage, with the exception of the scapulars and wing-coverts (which are glossy cinnamon-rufous) black, dull 
on the crown and throat, and with the hind neck and its sides, as well as the chest and upper breast, illumined 
with steel-blue edgings, blending into a greenish hue at the centres of the feathers ; these hues are brightest on the 
hind neck ; back, rump, and flanks moderately glossed with greenish ; tail-feathers glossed with green, mostly on 
the four lateral feathers ; forehead and chin brownish, gradually darkening into the hue of the crown and throat 
respectively ; tips of the quills smoky brown ; scapulars somewhat darker rufous than the wings ; under wiDg- 
eoverts shaded with blackish. 
The gloss on the tail-feathers varies in individuals ; in some the central pair have scarcely any, the ground-colour 
partaking slightly, if examined carefully, of a ruddy-brown hue. 
Young. The yearling bird has the head and nape marked with rufous striae ; hind neck barred with fulvous ; scapulars 
and wings crossed with rather broad bars of blackish ; tail barred with spear-shaped bands of dusky whitish ; 
throat-feathers centered and barred with fulvous ; breast and thighs the same. 
The above description of the young is from an Indian individual ; I have not had the opportunity of examining 
Ceylonese examples in the immature stage, but they have been described to me as similar to the one here 
noticed. 
