86 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



attracted to-day by the peculiar behaviour of a pair of crows and 

 two other birds, which, on closer inspection, proved to be young 

 Channel-bills, Scythrops novcv-holhindim. I had heard that the 

 Crow was the foster parent of this, the largest of our Australian 

 cuckoos, but had never before noted them in company. What 

 struck me as remarkable was the fact that there were two young 

 cuckoos being reared by the one pair of crows." 



Mr. Herbert Kenny, writing to me from Cooper's Creek, says 

 Channel-bills, or Flood-birds, make their appearance just before 

 or during rain or floods, laying principally in crows' nests. Later 

 on, or prior to leaving, the old Channel-bills go round and gather 

 up their young, when some hard fighting between the Channel- 

 bills and the crows usually ensues. 



CoucAL, Centropus phasianus. 



The Coucal is the only member of the Australian Cuculidae that 

 undertakes the responsibility of rearing its own family. Its range 

 is tropical and sub-tropical, where it loves to dwell in the moister 

 tracts, amongst coarse rank grass and other vegetation. 



In the matter of diet the Coucal is a ferocious creature. It is 

 reported that it devours small snakes and birds, and is addicted to 

 robbing nests in fowl-yards. 



Mr. Charles Barnard, through Mr. North, has added an inter- 

 esting note to the nidification of the Coucal. He says: — "On 

 the 15th February, 1891, I found a nest with three eggs of 

 Centropus phasianus. The nest was built about 15 inches above 

 the ground in some high, broad-bladed grass, the tops of which 

 were drawn down and loosely interwoven into the shape of a ball 

 of about 8 inches internal diameter, with a round hole in one side 

 for entrance, and another at the opposite side as a means of exit 

 (as mentioned in Gould— A. J. C.) The bottom of the nest was 

 thickly padded with Blood wood {Eucalyptus corymbosa) leaves, 

 which extended through the entrance and on to the bent down 

 grass outside the nest in the shape of a platform." 



Again, another brother (Mr. Harry Barnard), in chatting with 

 me about birds in general, mentioned that the Coucal's nest is 

 not unfrequently placed on a fallen log or other support, such as 

 a short bush or long grass — the surrounding grass being woven 

 together, with the addition of twigs. 



Mr. S. W. Jackson (South Grafton, New South Wales) has 

 kindly forwarded me a very curious note respecting the Coucal 

 laying in an old nest of the Babbler, Pomatostomvs temporalis. 

 He states — " I flushed the Coucal off the nest, which was built 

 on a horizontal branch of a low tree, and not more than 12 feet 

 from the ground. The four eggs were simply laid on the top 

 of the Babbler's nest, and the Coucal had made a neat 



