^"'•„;^J^-] AsiiBV, Birds of Mount Compass District, S.A. 303 



form a link in tlie cluiin ; if this is correct, the isolation caused 

 by the Ninety-mile Desert must account for the wide divergence 

 of both the South x\ustralian forms from the Victorian. 



I think it best to recognize the Mount Compass birds as an 

 intermediate variety between the Victorian and "Kangaroo Island 

 species, with closer affinity with the latter than with the former ; 

 but should it be deemed best to give sub-specific rank to this 

 mainland bird, I suggest the name intermeditis, of which the 

 Mount Compass bird will be the type. 



Birds referred to above: — Stipitnrus malachitnis litUcri (Ma.t\\cw5), 

 Tasmanian Emu-Wren ; Stipitnrus malachiiriis tyegcUasi (Mathews), 

 Victorian Emu-Wren ; Stipitnrus malachurus habnaturina (Par- 

 sons), Kangaroo Island Emu-Wren ; Stipiturus malachurus inter- 

 medius, South Australian Emu- Wren. 



Notes on Parasitism. 



By H. Stuart Dove, E.Z.S.. West Devonport (Tas.) 



The consideration of the parasitic habit among birds, and its 

 origin, is to my mind one of the most absorbing in the science of 

 ornithology, and any suggestion as to how it arose is worthy of 

 discussion. In dipping — perhaps for the hundredth (or 

 thousandth) time — into that delightful classic, White's 

 " Sel borne," I find that the author, in writing to Hon. Daines 

 Barrington, in 1776, mentions that Herissant, a French anatomist, 

 is persuaded that he has discovered the reason why Cuckoos do 

 not hatch their own eggs : the impediment arises, he supposes, 

 from the internal structure of their parts, which incapacitates 

 them for incubation. According to this gentleman, the " crop 

 or craw " lies immediately on and over the bowels, so as to make 

 a large protuberance on the abdomen. [" Crop " here evidently 

 means " stomach," as will be seen later ; Dr. Newton excludes 

 the Ciiculidce from crop-possessing birds. — H. S. D.] White 

 hereupon procured a Cuckoo, and, cutting open the sternum and 

 exposing the interior, found the " crop " lying as mentioned. 

 " This stomach was large and round, and stuffed hard like a pin- 

 cushion with food, small scarabs, spiders, dragon-flics, maggots, 

 and small seeds, so that these birds apparently subsist on l)oth 

 insects and fruits." White, although he considered the French- 

 man was right in thinking this round, hard stomach would make 

 " a very uneasy situation during the process of incubation," yet, 

 with true scientific caution, procured another bird, a Fern Owl 

 or Caprimulgus, " which, from its habit and shape, we suspected 

 might resemble the Cuckoo in internal construction." So it 

 proved ; " the ' crop or craw ' lay immediately upon the viscera, 

 between them and the skin of the belly, and was stuffed hard with 

 large moths and their eggs, which had no doubt been forced out 

 of them by the act of swallowing." As the Fern Owl was well 



