192 Mr. R. Mall on Birds 



No particular note upon the skin is necessary. Special 

 interest, however, attaches to the distribution, because liitherto 

 no mention has been made of the bird as inhabiting this set 

 of coral islands. It is fond of exploring, and finds its way to 

 a vast number of spots off the mainland. Hovv it now fares 

 on this treeless island (about 7 miles long) is easily demon- 

 strated, because it had chosen the only possible spot to breed 

 in, viz. an abandoned jetty, amongst the planks of which a 

 pair of birds were going in and out. There is brackish water 

 about three miles away, while thousands of lizards are to be 

 had ahuost anywhere. 



51. CucuLus PALLiDUs. Pallid Cuckoo. (HalPs Key, 

 p. 58.) 



I procured a young bird at Katanning, 5.10.99, also 

 an egg in a nest of the Red-wattle Bird. The immature 

 bird still retains fledgling feathers on the forehead and 

 sparsely on the chest. The upper tail-coverts are clear grey. 

 I noticed many young birds on the wing at Geraldton on 

 Oct. 29th, shewing olive round the eye instead of clear yellow. 

 I handled an adult bird in the flesh near Albany on 

 Sept. 27th. 



52. Cacomantis flabellifokmis. Fan-tailed Cuckoo. 

 (Hallos Key, p. 58.) 



A. Sk. imm. S • 16.10.99. Geraldton. 



B. Sk. nestling. 3.11.99. Denmark. 



Specimen A. — Brown above, except the tail-coverts, with 

 faint cross-bars appearing as if beneath the surface ; upper 

 tail-coverts — the first part of the bird to shew signs of 

 maturity — bluish, the two central feathers of the tail 

 "notched" on the outer web with rufous; the external quills 

 of the tail " notched " on the proximal ends, with white 

 on the outer web and rufous on the distal ends of the same 

 quills and same webs ; the middle quills of the tail shew 

 more rufous than white on the outer webs; the breast is more 

 crenately marked than the back ; the under tail-coverts are 

 pale brown. 



Specimen B. — Nearly ready to fly ; the last of the quills 



