58 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



vol. vii., p. 269, regards them as a single species, G. exilis, 0. 

 ruficeps being catalogued as a species occupying N.E. Africa. 



On the 12th of December last I obtained a skin of a female C. 

 lineocapilla which had mated with a male of C. rujiceps. The 

 nest is a grassy, domed, side-entranced structure, appended to 

 the long sheathing leaves of dry grass tussocks up to three feet 

 from the ground, with richly-coloured blue eggs hidden from view. 

 Owing to the wariness of the builders, the nests are difficult to 

 procure, for you may lay in cover a considerable time before the 

 strategy of the bird in wending its way among the tussocks before 

 arrival at the nest is discovered. 



(To be continued). 



NOTES ON THE PALLID CUCKOO. 

 By A. J. Campbell. 



(Read before the Field Naturalists' 1 Club of Victoria, lith June, 1897.,) 

 In the proper season the Pallid Cuckoo, Guculus pallidas, Lath., 

 may be either seen, or heard by its melancholy cry, in nearly every 

 part of Australia and Tasmania. It may be considered migratory 

 in its movements ; and, according to the kind of season in certain 

 quarters, appears in greater or less numbers. For instance, 

 during the periods of great drought in the interior and Queensland, 

 decidedly more of these birds visit, say, Victoria, or the seaboard 

 country. 



In the south, the first Pallid Cuckoo of the season is generally 

 heard about the middle or end of August, or the beginning 

 of September. However these would appear, as far as my 

 observations go, to be preceded by silent birds of the same 

 species, which may be seen about the timber or perched on 

 fences or on telegraphic wires about the beginning of August. 

 Why these forerunners should be silent, or whether they are all 

 one sex, has not been ascertained. 



The first Pallid Cuckoo's egg is deposited in the selected 

 foster-parent bird's nest about the middle or towards the end 

 of September. October and November constitute the chief laying 

 time, while a few birds lay during the beginning of December. 

 When summer is ended, or about the end of March, all the 

 Pallid Cuckoos — old and their young — retire northward. 



Whether the Pallid Cuckoo lays more than one egg (it probably 

 does) is not definitely settled, but its single and beautiful 

 flesh-coloured egg is found in various insectivorous or semi- 

 insectivorous birds' nests in Queensland, as well as the southern 

 provinces, including Tasmania. 



Among the foster-parents, Gould mentions the various Ptilotes 

 and Melithrepti (Honey-eaters), but we possess no data to show 



