302 Mr. A. J. Campbell on the 



Mr. 11. Hislop oil August 12, 1898, and contained one egg, 

 white in colour, slightly lustrous, the two ends being nearly 

 of a uniform size. It measures 1*44 by 1 inch. 



The eggs of all the Australian Podargi have now been 

 described. 



6. Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo {Cacomanits castanei- 

 ventris) : Cat. B. xix. p. 274. 



This bird I saw on many occasions on the Bloomfield 

 River, near Cooktown, and often heard it uttering its mournful 

 note during the night, and I have also noticed it flying about 

 among the bushes, evidently hunting for nests, but I never 

 saw or heard the Fan-tail Cuckoo {C . flabelliformis) in this 

 district. Mr. R. Hislop has sent me a clutch of the eggs of 

 the Sericormis magnirostris, in which was deposited the egg 

 of a Cuckoo, which I have little doubt was laid by the 

 C. castane'iventris, and which I provisionally describe as 

 such until an opportunity shall occur of seeing the young 

 bird that is hatched from these eggs. The ground-colour is 

 white, with minute freckles of a brownish tint, rather sparsely 

 scattered over the egg, and forming a light zone on the 

 larger end. It is nearly oval in shape, and measures 0*82 

 by 0-58 inch. 



The egg of the Cacomantis variolosus (the Square-tailed 

 Cuckoo) has been found on several occasions in the Cooktown 

 district, but always in the dome-shaped nest of the Glycy- 

 phila modesta (Brown-backed Honey-eater). 



XXX. — On the Trachea of the Freckled Duck of Australia 

 (Stictonetta nsevosa). By A. J. Campbell. 



Following a hint given me by Professor Newton, I obtained 

 for Mr. J. J. Ed. Degen, of the Melbourne Museum, some 

 specimens of Stictonetta ncevosa (Cat. B. xxvii. p. 324) for 

 dissection. I send herewith Mr. Degen's observations on 

 the trachea of this remarkable species, of which the exact 

 systematic position is still uncertain, together with a figure 

 of that oi'gan in the male : — 



