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(12) Order Cuculiformes.—This Order includes 147 species of
Cuckoos some of which are parasitic and some non-parasitic. The
Ethiopian and Oriental Regions have the largest numbers. Most of them
are coloured in shades of grey, brown and black.
The common Hawk Cuckoo Cuculus varius parasitises on babblers.
Its loud piercing call sounds like ‘brain fever’ and the general coloration
and appearance of the bird make it look like a hawk. Many small birds
move away at the approach of the Common Hawk Cuckoo and the female
thus gets an opportunity to deposit her eggs in the nests of the host.
The Drongo Cuckoo Surniculus lugubris is of the same size as the
Black Drongo, for which it is liable to be mistaken, but it has a short tail
and flies like a cuckoo. It is found in well wooded country.
The Plaintive Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus which is a common bird
of the Deccan lays its eggs in the nests of tailor birds and ashy wren
warblers. Some plaintive Cuckoos also produce eggs that match very
closely the eggs of the host birds.
The Pied Crested Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus is a regular visitor to
western India just prior to the monsoon and lays its eggs in the nests of
several species of babblers.
The Koel Eudynamys scolopacea is a familiar bird of our gardens.
The male is jet black while the female is barred brown and white and lays
her eggs in the nests of house crows and jungle crows. They call loudly in
the hot weather.
The Green-billed Malkoha Rhophodytes viridirostris, the Sirkeer
cuckoo Taccocua leschenaulti and the Crow Pheasant Centropus sinensis
all belong to the non-parasitic group of cuckoos. The Malkoha is a forest
loving bird coloured olive grey; the Sirkeer Cuckoo is an earthy brown
and green bird found in scrub jungle and forests of the Deccan; the Crow
Pheasant may be seen everywhere. The Crow Pheasant feeds on small
vertebrates and is a great destroyer of young birds and eggs.
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