(;64 ^ESTS A^D EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



450. — CucuLus PAi.LiDus, L'ltliam. — (378) 

 PALLID CUCKOO. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv., pi. 85. 



Rejerc?ice. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xix., p. 261. 



Privious Description of Eggs. — Ramsay : Proc. Zool. Soc, p. 462 

 (1865); Campbell: Southern Scienre Record (1883); also 

 Victorian Naturalist (1S97). 



(TiiKjra iiliinil Dixtriliutiaii . — Whole ol' Australia- and Tasmania, 



E(/gx. — Inclined to oval in shape ; texture of shell fine ; surface 

 glossy ; colour, delicate fleshy tint, darkest on the apex, and here and 

 there a small reddish or chestnut spot. Dimensions in inches : 

 (1) 1-4 X -72, (2) -97 X -68, (3) -93 x -7. (Plate 16.) 



OJixerimtinn.f. — The plumage of the Pallid, sometimes called 

 Unadorned, Cuckoo, is easily described, being in general tone brownish, 

 with the underneath parts light in coloiu-; the long tail is barred with 

 wliite, the eyes are dark brown and appear largo, encircled with a 

 yellow eyelash. The bill is slightlj' curved, dark, excejit (he base of 

 the lower mandible, which is yellow, the gape and inside of the mouth 

 being also yellowish; feet, olive. Total length, about 12 inches; tail, 

 6 inches ; bill, ^ inch. In the proper season the Pallid Cuckoo may 

 be either seen, or heard by its melancholy cry, in nearly every part 

 of Australia and Tasmania. It may be considered migratory in its 

 movements ; and, according to the kind of season in certain quarters, 

 appears in greater or less numbers. For inst^incc, during the periods 

 of great drought in the interior and Queensland, dccidcdlv more of 

 these birds visit, say, Victoiia, or the seaboard country. 



In the south, the first Pallid Cuckoo of the season is generally 

 heard about the middle or end of Aiigust or the beginning of Septem- 

 ber. However these would appear, as far as my observations go, to 

 be preceded by silent birds of the same species, which may be seen 

 about the timber or perched on fences or on tclegra])hic wires about 

 the beginning of August. Why these forerunners should bo silent, 

 or whether they are all one sex, has not been ascertained. 



The first Pallid Cuckoo's egg is deposited in the selected foster- 

 parent bird's nest about the middle or towards the end of September. 

 October and November constitute the chief laying time, wliilc a few 

 birds lay during the beginning of December. When simimcr is ended, 

 or about the end of March, nil the Pallid Cuckoos — old and their young 

 — retire northward. 



Whether the Pallid Cuckoo lays more than one egg (it probably 

 does) is not definitely settled, but its single and beautiful flesh-coloured 

 egg is found in various insectivorous or semi-insectivorous birds' nests 

 in Queen.sland, a.s well as the southern provinces, including Tasmania. 



Among the foster parents, Gould mentions the various Pti/otiK and 

 Mrlilhrrpfi (Ilonevcaters), but we possess no data to show that he 

 should have included the Maliiri (Wrens) and Aciiiithi:<r (Tits) for 

 this particular Cuckoo. 



