THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



101 



ber includes the laying season of the Fantailed Cuckoo. The eggs 

 are almost invariably deposited in domed or covered-in nests of 

 certain little insectivorous birds. But there are a few notable 

 exceptions (four instances) of open nests having been selected. 



Here follows a list of foster parents of the Fantailed Cuckoo 

 known up to the present, namely : — 



Vernacular Name. 



Tasmanian Tit ... 

 Little Brown Tit ... 

 Striated ,, ... 



Little Yellow „ 



(?) Buff-rumped Tit 

 Long-tailed Wren 

 Blue 



Variegated , , 

 Sombre Scrub-Tit 

 White-fronted ,, 

 Large-billed „ 

 Little Field Lark 

 White-eared Honey-eater 

 Black capped ,, 



Wood Swallow ... 

 Dusky Robin .... 



Scientific Name. 



Acanthiza diemenensis ... 

 A. pusilla ... 

 A. lineata ... 

 A. nana ... 



Geobasileus reguloides ... 

 Malurus gouldi ... 

 M. cyaneus 



M. lamberti 



Sericornis humilis 



S. frontalis 



S. magnirostris ... 



Chthonicola sagittata 



Ptilotis leucotis ... 



Melithreptus melanocepha- 



lus 

 Artamus sordidus . . . 

 Petrceca vittata ... 



By Whom First 



Recorded or 



Reported. 



Rev. H. T. Hull 



Dr. E. P. Ramsay 



A. J. C. 

 Dr. E. P. 



Ramsay 



A. J. C. 



T. Brittlebank 



A. J. C. 



Dr. E. P. Ramsay 



C. French, jun. 



A. 



E. Brent 



,, (Nov., '96) 



We are indebted to Dr. Ramsay for much original information 

 in reference to our cuckoos. He patiently watched their eggs in 

 various nests, thus enabling him to identify the species when 

 hatched. The result of his labours, together with coloured plates 

 of four of the most familiar eggs, may be found embodied in the 

 "Proceedings of the Zoological Society" (London), 1865 and 

 1869, from which I quote at length : — 



" Among those species, the nests of which are favoured by 

 visits from this ' parasite,' is Acanthiza pusilla, from a nest 

 of which in September, 1863, we took no less than four eggs — 

 two laid by the rightful owner of the nest and the other 

 two by cuckoos. One of these was a very fine specimen of 

 Ghalcites basilis* the other an egg of the present species, 

 Cacomantis fiabelliformis. The entrance to this nest was greatly 

 enlarged, being in width fully 2 inches, and the hood which 

 usually conceals the entrance (which is near the top of the nest 

 and not generally wider than 1 inch across) was pushed back 

 to such an extent that the eggs were rendered quite visible. 



" I have now before me ten nests of the Acanthizse and four 

 of Maluri, the former comprising Acanthiza lineata, A. nana, 

 A. pusilla, and what at present I believe to be that of A. regu- 

 loides ; the latter, Malurus cyaneus and M. lamberti. 



Probably plagosn s is intended. — A. J. C. 



