COCHOA VIRIDIS, Hodgs.
Green Coclioa.
Cochoa viridis, Hodgs. in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 359.—Blyth in Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc.
Calcutta, p. 194.—Gray, Cat. of Spec, and Draw, of Mamm. and Birds presented by B. H. Hodgson,
Esq. to Brit. Mus., p. 96.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 280, Cochoa, sp. 1. pi. lxviii.
Prosorinia (Cochoa) viridis, Hodgs., Gray, Zool. Misc., p. 84.
A mong the numerous ornithological; rarities made known to us by the researches o f Mr. Hodgson in
Nepaul, few are of greater interest than the present species, and its near ally the C. purpurea; inasmuch
as they constitute an entirely new form to the fauna of Continental India, the situation of which in the
natural system we have not as yet sufficient evidence to determine. Mr. Hodgson regards them as belonging
to the Merulince, while Mr. G. R. Gray and Mr. Blyth place them with the Ampelinoe: to whichever group
they may belong, they will ever be objects o f interest from their graceful form and beautiful colouring.
Mr. Hodgson states that, “ Like most o f the Nipalese Thrushes, these birds are common to the three
regions of the kingdom. They are shy in their manners, confine themselves exclusively to the woods, live
solitarily or in pairs, breed’and moult but once a year, and nidificate on trees. I have taken from their
stomachs several sorts o f stony berries, small univalve mollusca, and several kinds of aquatic insects.
These birds are not generally or familiarly known to the Nipalese, but the foresters, whom I have met with,
denominate them Coc/io.
“ This species is apt to vary considerably before it has reached maturity, as well as under moult, when
the back is sometimes lunated with black, and the soft blue portion o f the wings is smeared with brownish
yellow.”
As Mr. Hodgson has stated to be the case, I find this species to vary much in colour. I have seen a specimen
with the under surface green, washed with rich yellowish buff on the centre of the abdomen, and with
the lunated marks on the back very conspicuous: this may, as Mr. Hodgson remarks, be indicative of immaturity
; and in all probability birds with stains of brown on the secondaries may be still younger examples,
if this style of colouring be not that of the adult female. Fine examples of this species have been presented
to the collection.^at the British Museum, and are I believe the originals of Mr. Hodgson’s description,
which is as follows
“ Brilliant parrot green, paler and changing into verditer blue on the belly and th ig h s; crest, cheeks and
neck posfeally, brilliant blue ;; upper part o f the wings and tail the same, but paler and with a grey cast,
and both black internally and’apertly towards the ends; through the eye to the nostrils black; bar of the
same hue across the pale portion of the wings, caused by the long coverts and bastard wing being tipt with
th at colour; legs'fleshy brown; iris brown; sexes alike.”
The figures are the size of life.