LA,MPKOI'OC:CVX. 21 



the more comn:on host, but that i\Ir. A. L. Butler, wlio has taken many more e-'s of the 

 Bronze Cuckoo, finds the Yellow-tail (Gcvlmsi/ens r/iryson'/wn.^) the commoner. 



From IV. Lonsdale liolden's notes, made while in Tasmania,! have extracted the following: — 

 " A specimen of L<;m/.;v,,v,ri /'/,;;,'v.s;(s was obtained on Perkins Island on the 7th November, 

 188S, and on the nth November I saw one on the northernmost part of Circular I lead Peninsula. 

 On the 30th October, lyoS, I found the oval-shaped greenish-drab egg of Lai,ip,'ounryx plciffosiis 

 in a nest of the Brown-tail (Auiuthica dn-imiu'iisis), with three fresh eggs of the owner's laying. 

 The nest was in a tea-tree bush hanging over the bed of the Newtown Creek, tue feet or more 

 from the ground, and was more visible than any nest of this species I have seen before. On the 

 25th October, ryoj, I shot a Bronze Cuckoo m a tree at the end of Bellerive Beach. The call 

 of this bird is a single note, whistled at regular intervals, a dozen or more times in succession. 

 It recalls the first sound of the double call of the Dusky Robin (.ln,„nm/,yas -.nttata ) but is not 

 so loud." 



The egg of the Bronze Cuckoo is a compressed ellipse or is elongate-oval in form, the shell 

 being close-grained, smooth, and as a rule lustreless. Typically they are of a shade of olive- 

 brown, some being much lighter than others approaching a very pale greenish-olive ; others are 

 richer in colour, and of a distinct bronzy-brown hue. The colouring may be removed by the 

 application of moisture or rubbing the shell with a damp cloth, disclosing a pale sky-blue to a 

 skim-milk hue underneath. Four eggs taken respectively from the nests of the Sun Bird 

 (Cinnyyis pycnata). the White-throated Ikish Warbler (Gnysone albi^nlans), the Buff-rumped 

 Thornbill (Gcohasilcis rcf^ulflidcs), and the Scrub Tit {Swicrornis Im-viivstns) measure as follows :— 

 Length (A) 075 x 0-5 inches: (B) 072 x 0-52 inches; (C) 075 x 0-53 inches; (D) 074 x 

 0-53 inches. 



As a rule the egg of the Bronze Cuckoo is deposited in a dome-shaped nest, but not 

 infrequently in an open cup-shaped structure. The task of hatching the egg of this species in 

 the neighbourhood of Sydney most frequently devolves upon Gmbasilnis ckn'son-lwiis and Gtryi^oue 

 albigulans. I first found the egg of this Cuckoo at Toorak, X'ictoria, in the nest and with three 

 eggs of Agiutha temporalis, and have also at various times taken it, in addition to those mentioned, 

 from the nests of the following species, Gaygouc fnsca, Smicrovnis bmirostns, Pdni-ca hggii, Malnrus 

 mistmlis- (= M. cyancns, Oould, mr hLllis), Acanlhiza piisUla, A. nana. A. lim-aUi, Gcobasilcus 

 irguloides, Ephthiannra alblfnms, and have also taken two eggs of L. plagosus from a nest of 

 Gcobasilens chrysorrJwus. I have also received an egg of the Bronze Cuckoo, taken by Mr. J. A. 

 Boyd at the Herbert River, (Hieensland, in the nest and with an egg of the Sun Bird, and from 

 Cairns and Cape York in the nest and with the eggs of the Masked Bush Warbler {Gaygouc 

 po'sonata). 



Young birds are brown above, with a slight bronze gloss on the wings, back, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts : all the under surface dull ashy-white, the fore-neck crossed with a pale 

 brown band, and with indications of dull brown cross-bars on the flanks. Wing 37 inches. 



How the egg of the Cuckoo is deposited in the nests of some of the smaller species of birds, 

 who build dome-shaped structures, the entrance to which in some instances is further protected 

 by a spout-like tunnel or narrow hood leading to it, is a mystery to me. I know that more or 

 less convincing evidence has been gi\en to show tliat the egg is deposited by the Cuckoo with 

 Its bill, but even so, how is it possible for a bird like the Bronze Cuckoo to get even its head 

 into the spout-like entrance of a nest of Gciygoiif fiisra, and which, moreover, is at an acute 

 angle with the domed portion of the nest. I have referred to this previously in Volume I., p. 

 197, where the nest of this species is figured. 



* North, Ibis, 1904, p. 672. 



