NESTS AND FOGS OF AVSTFALIAN BIRDS. t;^^ 



At first siglit, this Cuckoo ma)' be easily mistaken for tlio familiar 

 Fan-tailed Cuckoo (C . flahcUiformis), but differs from that bird by its 

 decidedly smaller size and more square-shaped tail, which is also 

 destitute of the white markings on the outer webs of the feathers. 



The Square-tailed, or, as it has been more commonly called, the 

 Brush Cuckoo, may also be recognised by its peculiar song — a few 

 melancholy, jerky notes, ending abniptly, as if the strain were suddenly 

 intcriTipted, or the songster had received some kind of a shock, in the 

 middle of its song. 



Dr. T. P. Lucas was the first collector who discovered this strange 

 Cuckoo's cgg^, which lie took when in company with his brother 

 Mr. A. H. S. Lucas, from the nest of the AVliite-shafted Fantail, near 

 Box Hill, Victoria, New Year's Day, 1884. But Dr. Lucas, unfortu- 

 nately, discounted liis discovery by describing the strange egg as that 

 of the Black-eared Cuckoo ( M ixrncnlinx paJlinlafiis), see "Victorian 

 Naturalist," Pebnxary, 1884. 



In the P.L.S.. N.S.W., 1888 (vol. iii., 2nd series, p. 421) Dr. G. 

 Hurst drew attention to, and described, a similar strange egg he had 

 found on the 22nd December, 1887, in a nest of the Blue Wren 

 (Miihtrux ri/fiiieus), and attributed to the Brush or Square-tailed 

 C\ickoo. At the same time he mentioned that a friend- — Mr. Waterhouse 

 — had on three occasions taken similar eggs from the nest of the White- 

 shafted Fantail. In the " Records of the Australian Museum," Mr. A. 

 J. North states that Dr. Hurst had again found other eggs in the 

 nests of the White-shafted Fantail, notably in the month of December; 

 while another Sydney collector, Mr. S. W. Moore, M.L.A., also found 

 the same species of Cuckoo's eggs in the nest of the Yellow-faced 

 Honeyeater (P. rhri/najix). Mr. North proceeds to remark: — "All 

 these Cuckoos' eggs were obtained within a radius of ten miles of 

 Sydney, and it is a matter of regret that the opportimity was not taken 

 of placing them in nostc convenient for observation, and hatching the 

 young out, as was done by Dr. Ramsay and his brothers, at Dobroyde, 

 with the eggs of C. pallidum, C. flaheUiformis. L. plago.nis, and L. 

 hnmJis, so as to conclusively determine to which species they belong; 

 but there can be no doubt Dr. Hurst was right in ascribing the eggs 

 obtained by him and his friends to C. insperatus (i.e., variolosus), as 

 it is the only other species of Cuckoo, foixnd near Sydney, the eggs of 

 which we were, until then, unacquainted with." 



However, Mr. Dudley Le Souef, with the assistance of his friend 

 Mr. R. Hislop, knocked the nail on the head by settling the parentage 

 of these strange eggs beyond doubt. During his trip to the Cooktown 

 district (Queensland), on the 17th November, 1896, he found one in 

 the nest of the Dusky or Brown-backed Honeyeater (Glyryphiln 

 77io(lexin). Mr. Hislop aftei-wards found another nest of the Honey- 

 eater containing the Cuckoo's egg, which was " shepherded " till the 

 yoimg parasite was hatched and just able to flv. The interesting 

 yoimgster was sent (dead, of course) to Mr. Le Souef, who in turn 

 referred it to the Australian Museum, the verdict being that it was 

 the young of the C. varinlnsus. 



