216 AUSTRALIAN BIRD MAPS 



N.W.A. 8, S.W.A. 9, and the desert west 7S 7» 

 (map 1). 



Among the interesting birds of the area 8, we 

 have the only cuckoo in AustraHa which makes a 

 nest and hatches its eggs; the Pheasant Cuckoo. 

 So that of the twelve species of this parasitical 

 family this one stands out for morality in relation 

 with its fellows. Having a measurement of close 

 on two feet it is a giant of its kind. 



WIDE SPREAD GROUPS 

 (Plate 1, Fig. 9; Plate 3, Fig. 98) 



At the point A in map 98 we meet with a great 

 climatic change, both sea — and land — birds re- 

 sponding. The extensive family of Terns, straight- 

 billed gulls, keeps mostly to the north, while the 

 equally strong family of Petrels keeps almost alto- 

 gether to the south. The Houtman Abrolhos, A, 

 is the nesting ground of both, and it is the most 

 southerly group of coral islands in the southern 

 hemisphere. Stray penguins will come from the 

 south on rare occasions. They perfer the Leeuwin 

 coast and islands east of it, which are about the 

 northern limit of range. The Recherche Islands 

 are good hatching grounds, after which the pen- 

 guins go to sea for months. They are nocturnal 

 as well as diurnal. 



Terns lay their eggs in open places. Petrels 

 mostly in deep hollows of the ground, and Penguins 

 in open places amongst rocks or slightly in the 

 ground. 



