24 CUCULIb.'E 



The extreme northern portion of the continent appears to be the only part where it does not 

 occur, or at least as plentiful, although there is an adult female in the i\ustralian Museum 

 collection obtained at Cape "I'ork in i86S. 



In the nei,i,'hbourhood of Sydney it is resident throuf<hout the year, but like Laiuj^rococcvx 

 plagosus it makes itself more conspicuous during the spring and summer months, and in liabits 

 and in the manner of obtaining its food it is precisely similar to that species. Its note is, however, 

 entirely different, consisting of a plaintive, long drawn out double call resembling the sounds of 

 " wbe — o, whe — o, whe — o, whe -o." On one occasion I had an opportunity of observing one 

 of these birds, while calling on the ground, being well hidden from it by a bush. With head 

 well thrown back, and widely distended mouth, it commenced to utter its plainti\e notes, and 

 which to my mind more resembled the mewing of a cat than anything else. A Kosehill I'arrakeet 

 {Plaiycifius c-\iiiiiiis} I had in confinement could imitate the call notes of Lamprocoiwx 

 I'tisiilis to perfection. The plaintive call-note of this species is most monotonous when heard in 

 the still hours of the night. At Roseville one of these birds took up its abode in a thickly- 

 foliaged wattle tree opposite my house, and from the 2jrd [uly, lyoi, to the 23rd September I 

 frequently noted it calling throughout the night. In Ashheld 1 once heard one of these Cuckoos 

 calling from the top of a dead sapling, and observed that between each note it slightly expanded 

 and gave a tremulous movement to the wings. In addition to its different call this species, if 

 one is near enough to it, may be easily distinguished from L. pldi^csiis by the brown crown of 

 the head, greater extent of rufous on the tail featfiers, and especially by the broken bars on the 

 centre of the lower breast and the white abdomen. 



I first found the egg of this Cuckoo in the nest of Mcliornii noV(C-liollandi(C in the Botanic 

 (lardens, Melb<3urne, which also C(3ntained three eggs of the rightful owner, and have also 

 at various times taken its egg from the nests of the following species : — Mahinis anstralis, M . 

 liuiihciii, Gfiyffoih' albigiiltii'is, G. fiiscn, Smicroniis hirvii'osli'is, Pctfieca leggii, Acanthiza [^nsilhi. A. 

 iniua, A. luicata, Geolmsilcus ihi'vson-lious, G- regiilaides, liplithiaiiiirn albifrons and .^giulliii tniipovalis. 

 1 have also received the egg of this Cuckoo taken with sets of eggs of the following species : — 

 Mnlnrus Ifticoptcnis. M . inclnuoccphnhn, M. rnHaimis, M. iissiiiiiiis. 



.'Mthough the eggs of any of our Australian Cuckoos may be deposited before the nest of the 

 foster-parent is finished, and covered up with a layer of nesting material, I have on not a few 

 occasions taken the eggs of Cuckoos from nests in which young ones had been reared. I foimd 

 an egg oi Lnrnprococcyx hasulis in the nest of the I>ufT-rumped Thornbill (figured in \'ol. I., page 

 287), a fortnight after the two young birds had left it. and undoubtedly the task of incubating 

 the egg of this Cuckoo devolves most frequently on the different species of the genus Malnrns. 

 Two eggs of Liimprftcocivx basalts are not uncommonly found, although one may be more or 

 less covered with lining material. At a meeting of the Linnean Society of New Soutfi Wales, 

 held on the 27th September, 1893, I exhibited a set of two eggs of Aianthi:a piisilla. and also 

 took from the same nest an egg each of the following species of Cuckoo : — Lauipfococcyx 

 plagosus, L. hasalis and Cacomantis JIahcUiformis. 



Mr. John Waterhouse, head master of the Boys' High School, Sydney, informed nie that 

 at Old Newington, on the Barramatta River, he also found the eggs of the same three species 

 of Cuckoo in the nest of, and together with an egg of Malurtts aiistralis, in December 1875. 



The egg is elliptical, elongated, or compressed-oval in form, the shell bemg close-grained, 

 smooth and lustreless, and of a pinkish-white ground colour, minutely freckled, dotted or spotted 

 uniformly all over witli pinkish or brownisli-red ; in some specimens these uiarkings are confluent, 

 ,ind form small patches of colour on the sliell. Four eggs taken respectively from the nests of the 

 following species, Double-bar Binch {Stcctoptera hichciwvii), Lambert's Superb Warbler {Maliiriis 



* Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wafes, p. 327, 2nd Ser., Vol. VIII. 



