It CUOULID.E. 



took aL;ain on the <)th of |aniKuy, iqoj, when it contained two eggsof tlie \\ hite-shatted I'antail 

 and one egg of the lirush Cucl<oo. On the 5th January, 1907, he took a nest of Mnlinns 

 laiiilhiii, with two eggs, also an egg of the Brush Cuckoo ; this was the lirst time I became aware 

 of the egg of this Cuckoo being found in tlie nest of this species. I''our fresli eggs were taken 

 from a nest of the same pair of birds on the ifath January, and two eggs of Lambert's Superb 

 Warbier from the thiid nest of this pair of birds on the 2gth January, lyoy; also an egg of the 

 Brush Cuckoo. ( )n the iSth November, 1906, Mr. Johnston took a nest of Myiagm ruliciula, 

 containing two eggs of that species and an egg of the Brush Cuckoo. 



(Jf otiier foster parents Mr. Ci. .\. Keartland informs me tliat the egg of the Brush Cuckoo 

 has been found in X'lctoria in the nests oi Miirdca faiiiunw- and Fahumidus frontaius \ and in Mr. 

 |. Ciabriel's collection I saw an egg of tliis Cuckoo, taken at Bayswater with a set of 

 lirvtlirndrvas raica. Mr. (i. Savidge, at Copmanhurst, New South Wales, found the egg in the 

 nest and with the eggs of l'iriil<nirYm iciplto. 



From \'ictoria Mr. G. A. Keartland sends me the following note; — " Although this bi'.d 

 bears a close resemblance to Caconuinlis Jlahelliformii, and makes its appearance in Southern 

 X'ictoria about the same time, I have never seen its egg in covered nests, but have found 

 it with those of the Brown Flycatcher and Scarlet-breasted Kobin." 



Mr. ). Gabriel, of Abhutsford, N'ictoria, sends me a note stating that his son, Mr. Charles 

 Gabriel, took the egg of this Cuckoo on the nth T'ecember, 1897, with a set of three eggs of 

 the Rose-breasted l^obin, at ISayswater, \'ictoria, and that it was "fairly abundant during that 

 year, and its eggs were found in all sorts of open nests." 



Mr. E. H. Lane, of Orange, New South Wales, kindly sends me the following note : — 

 " The eggs of the Square-tailed Cuckoo {Caconuiiitis varinlosus), or C. iuspcralus, the name it was 

 formerly called, were hrst taken in the neighbourhood of Sydney by the boys of old Newington 

 College, on the Parramatta River, to whom the bird was known as the " Devil-bird Cuckoo " 

 as all the eggs at that time were found in the nests of the White-shafted Fantail, which the 

 boys called the " I)evil-l)ird " for some reason or another. I had three eggs in my collection in 

 1S79, all taken years before at old Newington, one by Mr. Leslie Oakes and two by Mr. W. W. 

 Baird, of Dubbo. Ur. Geo. Hurst and Mr. John Waterhouse also obtained eggs of this Cuckoo 

 while at old Newington." 



Mr. John \\'ateth(juse, head master of the Sydney Boys' High School, writes me as follows : — 

 " I have been glancing at my ornithological notes taken years ago, and find that in the bush 

 near old Newington College, on the I^arramatta River, 1 took several nests of the " Devil-bird " 

 (Rhipidnra dlhiscupa) in October and early in November, 1870, and in two of them found an egg 

 differing in several respects from tlie "Devil-bird's" eggs, and these strange eggs we called 

 " Devil-bird Cuckoo eggs." Again on the 22nd November, 1875, ^ found another of these 

 Cuckoos' eggs in the nest of Rhipidnra nlhiscnpn. 1 saw two of these eggs in Dr. G. Hurst's 

 collection, who obtained them about the same time and in the same locality, and both were the 

 eggs of Cdioniiuitis viiriolosiis." 



Mr. W. Leslie Moore has sent me the following notes:—" On the 4tli December, 1891, in 

 company with my father, Mr. S. W. Moore, at Haslem's Creek, Rookwood, we found an egg of 

 the Brush or Square-tailed Cuckoo in the nest of Ptilolis chyysups, which also contained an egg 

 of the latter species. At Eastwood five nests of Rlnpidura alhiscapa were taken, each with two 

 eggs of the rightful owner and also an egg of the Brush Cuckoo. Two were taken on the 26th 

 December, 1S91, by my father and Dr. G. Hurst. The others were taken either by my father 

 or myself, two in December, 1893, and one on the 12th November, 1898." 



The eggs of the Brush, or Square-tailed Cuckoo, vary from a thick short oval to nearly a 

 true oval in form, some specimens being slightly compressed towards the centre, the shell being 



