45 
Birds of North-west Fohkien. 
May 1897. The nest-hole was in a bank by a small patch 
of paddy surrounded by woods. I did not actually see the 
parent birds enter the hole, but one came to perch on the 
trees above it and another flew close by the bank where the 
hole was. The eggs are nearly spherical; one measures 
T2lxl'10inch. It is very smooth, but not so glossy as 
the eggs of Alcedo bengalensis. 
4T44. Cuculus canorus L. 
This Cuckoo may be heard among the Fohkien hills during 
the spring, but it is not nearly so common as the following 
species. I have an adult example from Foochow, and three 
young Cuckoos taken there in autumn are probably of 
this species. Mr. Rickett has an adult example shot at 
Kuatun in May. I heard one calling there on the 15th 
May, 1898. 
4 145. Cuculus intermedius Vahl. 
This Cuckoo is abundant on the Kuatun Mountains, where 
we heard it for the first time in 1898 on the 4th April. The 
call heard at Kuatun was almost invariably trisyllabic, u hoo- 
hoo-hoo,” and not quadrisyllabic, as at Tamsui. 
The native hunters at Kuatun are well acquainted with 
the Cuckoo's habits, and told me, one day that we were all 
out together, how it builds no nest, but deposits its eggs in 
the nests of small birds, and how the young Cuckoo pushes 
the original young out of the nest. They could not tell me, 
however, how the hen Cuckoo managed to place her egg in 
the nest. 
4-146. Hierococcyx sparverioides (Vig.). 
I have an example of this species shot near Kien-ning-fu 
on the 4th May, 1896. It is not uncommon along the river 
some distance inland from Foochow, but it is very shy. We 
have no specimens from Kuatun; it is, however, likely 
enough that it occurs there. 
4 147. Hierococcyx hyperythrus (Gould). 
I have a beautiful male example in young striped plumage, 
shot near Kuatun on the 16th October, 1896. 
