Sirkeer Malkoha    Taccocua leschenaultia

Etymology:

• Taccocua : French name for Lizard Cuckoo found in Jamaica. This bird has the name Tacco from its cry, which is like that word
• Leschenaultia : Named after French botanist Jean Baptiste Louis Claude ThéodoreLeschenault de laTour (1773–1826)

 Vernacular names: Hindi:Janglitota, Pun: Neola papiha, Guj: Sirkeer, Khakhighoyaro, Nano lilomalkoha, Lilisirkeer, Te: Adavichiluka, Potu/Putta (?) chiluka, Mal: Kallikuyil, Sinh: Patthangatti-kukkula, Mar: LalChochichaMungshya

Distribution in India: Widespread resident. Not seen in North West, Himalayas and North East of India

Description: Size of41-42 cm, wt. of 174 g. The adult is sandy-rufous above with black shaft streaks to head and breast, long tail blackish brown with broad white tips on outer feathers, inner rectrices unmarked sandy-rufous; throat and breast light brown, belly sandy-rufous; feathered around eye with narrow blue orbital skin, iris red to brown, bill red with yellow tip, feet are dark grey. The juvenile has above feathers edged pale rufous and below streaked with black. Races found in India are  racesirkee (North West India), raceinfuscata ( India in sub-Himalayan areas from Uttarakhand to West Bengal, and  Maharashtra and North Andhra Pradesh.), raceleschenaultii (South India)

Habitat:It is found in dry deciduous secondary forest, scrub and bush, with undergrowth of lantana and thick grass, thorn and grass jungle, dry stony hillsides.

Food Habits: It eats large insects, grasshoppers, mantids, caterpillars, termites, also lizards, berries, fruits. Terrestrial, feeds mainly on ground, often runs; occasionally flies from one tree to another.

Breeding Habits: They breed in June-Sept.The nest is a saucer of twigs lined with green leaves, near ground. They lay a clutch of 2-3 eggs. Both parents Incubate.