OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA. 169 



European congeners in the opening spring by uttering their 

 characteristic " Cuckoo, cuckoo." They certainly possess the 

 wandering voice, but the notes do not in the sUghtest degree 

 resemble those of the Northern birds. As a matter of fact, 

 they are puzzling birds to the general observer, as regards 

 their eggs, as well as the high-sounding notes that permeate 

 our bush. The illustration will better describe the series of 

 semitones of the male Pallid Cuckoo. 



hn,ih^ 



+* 



When the spring blossoms first appear in the fields the 

 minstrelsy of the Cuckoo is heard along the borders of towns, 

 even into the suburbs, as w^ell as in the forest reaches. At a 

 later period the piercing voice is more rural, receding, so to 

 speak, further from human haunts. As late as the month of 

 January the appealing call of the male bird is given and 

 repeated until Dame Fortune smiles upon him and sends him a 

 marriage partner. Especially in October are the weird notes 

 of the Bronze species heard above those of the smaller 

 denizens of the same woods. As for the Pallid Cuckoo, it 

 sits upon the tallest dead bough of the highest tree and wails 

 its melancholy note until those of each bar in the ascent 

 become thoroughly accelerendo. By the end of February the 

 woods no longer resound with the Cuckoo's notes. 



With the arrival of the Cuckoo comes trouble to the smaller 

 denizens of the forest, who raise decided objections to having 

 their nests made the receptacles of the parasite's eggs. The 

 Pallid Cuckoo chooses open nests like that of the Fantail for 

 this purpose ; the other species distribute their favours among 

 the wide, open, cup-shaped nests and those with a side entrance. 



