Vol. V. "j 

 1505 J 



Stray Fenthers-. 3 ^ 



The Silver Gull has laid satisfactorily along the coasts, also the 

 Black and Pied Oyster-catchers, building in the same locality year 

 after year. The Brush Bronze-wing Pigeon is to be seen in fair 

 numbers. Last December one could find their nests in nearly 

 every thicket, containing their two white eggs. Owing to the 

 flat formation of the nest, in hasty flight the bird will often kick 

 the eggs on to the ground, and I have seen the young ones in a 

 similar condition. It is very difficult to secure these birds for 

 the aviary, as they are extremely suspicious of traps, &c. 



The Wedge-tailed Eagle has also departed to " pastures new," 

 or else terminated their long life, as they have not nested in their 

 old haunt, although the nest is still intact. We have a fair variety 

 of Honey-eaters, the Spinebill and Yellow-throated species being 

 the most conspicuous. Have not seen any eggs of the Spur-winged 

 Plover last season, although the birds have been fairly plentiful. 

 The Cape Barren Goose is flourishing on Passage and Forsyth 

 Islands, their chief homes, and one will often see as many as 50 

 in one cluster upon the sea-sands when the sportsman has made 

 his unwelcome visit. — J. D. Maclaine. 7/3/05. 



Field Notes on Cuckoos. — So very little is known of the habits 

 of the different Cuckoos that a few facts and some of the theories 

 derived from my experience may not be amiss. Of all birds I 

 think the Cuckoo is the most interesting. I remember once, when 

 playing truant from school, I went into the bush, and on the out- 

 skirts of the township (Stawell, Victoria) found a nest of the Scrub- 

 Robin {Drymaadiis brunncopygius)* and in it an egg I had not 

 before seen, but experience has since taught me that it belonged 

 to the Pallid Cuckoo (C. pallidus). I have repeatedly taken two 

 Cuckoos' eggs in the one nest, but they were always one each of 

 the Bronze species — the Narrow-billed and Thick-billed — though 

 last year my friend Mr. F. P. Godfrey took two of the Thick-billed 

 Bronze-Cuckoos' eggs in the nest of the Yellow-tailed Tit {Acan- 

 thiza chrysorrhoa), but then one was partly built into the nest — 

 not an uncommon thing. One day last year I took an egg of the 

 last-named species in a nest of A. chrysorrhoa, but the bird had 

 evidently made a mistake, as the egg was fresh and the young had 

 flown, this being indicated by the quill shells inside ; and on 

 another occasion, in a nest of A. chrysorrhoa, there was only 

 one egg, and that a Cuckoo's, hard set. This bears out a 

 fact I have noticed, that the Cuckoo either eats or destroys 

 an egg or two before dcj^ositing her own. For instance, the 

 ordinary clutch of Acanthiza pusilla is three, and sometimes 

 four, but whenever I took a clutch containing a Cuckoo's egg 

 there would be one or two only of the foster-bird's eggs. On 

 two occasions I have seen the Cuckoos visit the nest where 

 their young was. Once at Whittlesea (Christmas, 1902) I found 



• Not previously recorded as a foster-pareiil of ihe Pallid Cuckoo. —lius. 



