732 Mr. W. L. Sclater on Birds collected 
462. Cuculus SOLITARIUS. 
Z. Sibudeni, Nov. 1 (1). 
[“ Piet-myn-vrow ” of the Colonists and Dutch • ‘ f Pago- 
m-kono” of the Zulus. 
This Cuckoo frequents well-wooded and forested localities, 
where it is more often heard than seen. It is very shy and 
retiring, and as it generally keeps within the forest, where it 
flits backwards and forwards calling all the time, it is a most 
difficult bird to secure; in fact, only on the occasion when I 
shot the specimen brought home did I ever see it, although I 
spent many hours searching for the bird. It is migratory, 
and I only heard it calling in the first months of the 
summer season. I have noted it in Zululand (Nov.), the 
Woodbush Hills (Oct. & Nov. 1905), and at Masambeti 
(Nov. & Dec. 1906). The call is of three whistles, the last 
being much lower in tone than the other two, and is audible 
at a considerable distance; it is on its call that both 
the Colonial and native names are founded. Owing to its 
being so shy and retiring I was unable to learn anything 
about its breeding-habits. 
The soft parts are :—Irides brown; orbits bright lemon- 
yellow ; bill, upper mandible dark slate-coloured, lower 
greenish yellow; legs and toes bright lemon-yellow.] 
464. Chrysococcyx smaragdineus. 
Z. Sibudeni, Dec. 19 ? , Jan. 21, 23, S *s (3) ; Tv. Wood- 
bush, Nov. 23, Dec. 5, 8, ’s (3). 
[“ Emerald Cuckoo ” of the Colonists ; “ Libentonyane ” 
of the Zulus. 
The Emerald Cuckoo is essentially a bird of the forests, 
where in the summer season its unmistakable call can be 
heard. It was heard in the forests of the Nkandhla Range 
in Zululand and in those of the Woodbush Hills in the 
North-Eastern Transvaal, while I heard one calling at Storms 
River, between the Knysna and Port Elizabeth, in Dec. 1904, 
although when I reached the Knysna none was heard. Its 
call is a whistle of four distinct notes, the last two being lower 
than the other two, and can be heard at a considerable distance, 
the bird sitting among the leafy boughs of some tall tree. 
