The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Koel

KOEL, one of a group of East Indian and Australian fruit-eating cuckoos, of the genus Eudynamis, which are popularly known as &ldquo;rain-birds.&rdquo; They are parasitic, but have many peculiarities, among which are the glossy black plumage of the males, and the fact that, contrary to the rule, the immature young resemble the males instead of the females, which have a reddish dress. A Philippines' species (E. mindanensis) is locally called &ldquo;phow.&rdquo; They utter loud whistling cries.