^'"'nro'^'] '^'■''"y i'e^itltcrs: 315 



usiuiUy makes its ;4)p(,'arancL; citluT betoix', during, or just after 

 an atmospheric disturbance, I kept a look-out. and next even- 

 ing, just before sunset, noticed the birds begin to come over 

 from north-west and make towards soutli-east, in the teetli of 

 the wind, wliich was still strong, although tiie evening was fine. 

 1 "hey came in small, straggling parties, at a height of from 100 ft. 

 to 2u(i ft. and Mew somewhat languidly, as if tired, "flittering" 

 the wings more than usual between the "sailing" flights. Over 

 100 individuals, I sliould say, passed in tliis straggling fashion 

 in about 18 minutes, when they ceased U) come. They were the 

 lirst of tlu' species seen this season. 



Fan- tailed Cuckoo {Caannantis fiabelliformis). — The first of any 

 kind of Cuckoo I have seen for fully a montli flew, on 3rd Fel)., 

 into a gum-tree at l)ack of cottage, and sat there cpiite silently. 

 Have heard no call from tither these, the PaHid, or the Bronze 

 for several weeks. 



Satin Flycatcher {Myia^ra niiida). — On 4th Fel)., a close morn- 

 ing, with showers from the north-east, a Satin Flycatcher was 

 in the gum, and calling with its sweet reedy note, but flew 

 before I could see whether the plumage was mature. This bird 

 must be on its way back to the mainland, and is unusually early. 

 The Scarlet Robins {Petroica leggii) are also back in the garden, 

 so tliat the season appears quite autumnal alread3^ — H. Stuart 

 Dove, F.Z.S. West Devonport, Tasmania, 4/2/20. 



Bronze-Cuckoo and Shrike-Robin.— Mr. A. C. Stone's discovery 

 at Ringwcjod (Vic), in Noveml)er, 1919, of an egg of tlie Narrow- 

 billed Bronze-Cuckoo {Chalcococcyx basalts) in the nest of a Shrike- 

 Robin {Eupsaltria aiistralis) is not, as suggested,* the flrst record 

 of the kind. Yellow Robins were (and are) plentiful in my old 

 locality of Maryborough (Vic), but only on one occasion — 30th 

 September, 1912 — did I find Bronze-Cuckoos represented in their 

 nests ; and then, freakishly enough, there were two of the pretty 

 pink spotted eggs of C. basalts to keep the two green, brown- 

 spotted eggs of the Robin company. The unusual circumstance 

 was remarked on in a newspaper paragraph at the time, and sub- 

 sequently (in 1916) a Melbourne magazine printed an account of 

 the eventful history of this particular pair of Robins. Briefly, the 

 nest in which the Cuckoo (or should it be Cuckoos ?) laid was 

 the second of four built by these Robins in the one season in the 

 one clump of timber. The first was blown to pieces, and the 

 second and third were robbed ; but success attended the daunt- 

 less birds on the fourth attempt. In the second case I was 

 interested in awaiting the possi])ilities with two Cuckoos in one 

 nest. On ist Octo])er there was one young Cuckoo in the. nest 

 witli tlie two Robins' eggs. No trace of the second Cuckoo was 



* Liint, vol. xix., p. 244. 



