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Show 1893.] SCIENTIFIC NAME OF A HIMALAYAN CUCKOO. 317 Mr. Oates (Ibis, 1889, p. 355), who carefully guarded himself by saying that the names used were provisional, as he had not gone into the question of nomenclature. But in 1890 Mr. Seebohm, in his ' Birds of the Japanese Empire,' p. 170, showed that neither the name C. himalayanus nor that of C. striatus could apply to the Himalayan Cuckoo-the first clearly belonging to the rufous state of C. poliocephalus, whilst the latter, founded on a Javan specimen 12 French inches (13 English) long, must be referred to C. canorus. I quite agree in both these determinations, and I should attach as much weight to the coloration of C. striatus as to its length, for it is described as having the " parties supe-rieures d'un brun cendre, bleuatre,"wbich might apply to C. canorus, but not to the adult Himalayan Cuckoo, in which the upper parts are not brown at all, but very dark ashy grey. That C. striatus cannot have been C. micropterus, as was formerly supposed, is, I think, certain, for there is no mention in Drapiez's description of the dark subterminal tail-band characteristic of the latter species, and the upper parts of C. micropterus could never be termed 'bleuatre.' Mr. Seebohm, after having disposed of the names by which the Himalayan Cuckoo had hitherto been known, selected for it an old term of Vahl's, G. intermedius, which, if it belonged to the bird, would certainly be peculiarly appropriate, for the species is intermediate in size between its two near allies, C. canorus and C. poliocephalus. The name C. intermedius was adopted by Captain Shelley in the British Museum Catalogue of Birds (vol. xix. p. 252), though both Cuculus striatus, Drapiez, and C. himalayanus, Vigors, are quoted as synonyms, in opposition to Mr. Seebohm's opinion. I very much fear, however, that the name Cuculus intermedius cannot possibly apply to the middle-sized Himalayan Cuckoo, for the following reasons. The original description of C. intermedius by Vahl (Skriv. af Nat. Selskabet, Kjbbenhavn, vol, iv. p. 58,1789) ran thus:-"Intermedius Cuculus Cauda rotundata nigricante albo-maculata, pectore cinereo ferrugineo-tincto, humeris immaculatis, remigibusfuscis. Hab. Tranquebariae;" and the species is said to be distinguished from C. passerinus by being " dimidio major," and from C. canorus by being " duplo minor, pennis pecto-ralibus apice ferrugineis, remigibus in colorem fuscum magis ver-gentibus, humeris immaculatis, non albis nigro punctatis^ Now the middle-sized Himalayan Cuckoo cannot be said to be half the size of C. canorus, and only half as large again as C. passerinus, whilst C. poliocephalus exactly fits the description, and the last-named species occurs in Southern India, whilst to the best of my belief the Himalayan Cuckoo does not. No notice of its occurrence in the Indian Peninsula is to be found in Jerdon, nor has it, so far as I can ascertain, been procured by any subsequent collector; certainly there is no specimen from any place west of the Bay of Bengal and south of lat. 26° X. in the Hume Collection. Nor has it ever been obtained in Ceylon, as it P R O C ZOOL. Soc-1893, No. XXII. 22 |
