KUDVNAMI.S. 



29 



ivehs of lliA <iuills blark : the under surf ac<' similar, biU f<ir less '/loss;/ and duller in colour; hill 

 bluiali-hlack ; leys and f-et shily-yri'i/ ; irii red. Total lemjth in the flesh llro inches, winy S'-S, tail 

 S;>, bill i»-9'>, tarsus !■■:. 



Adult fkmalr. — tiew ral colour above, inclu.diny tin' irinys, dn.ll bron:y-bro)rii, thickly spotted 

 with irhile, except on. tin- quills and ii/iper tail-coverts, ichirh. are crossed with more or less perfect bars 

 of tvhite : fail-feathers dork bron-y-broicii, ivitli. iiumerous nndulaling white cross-bars: head and 

 hind neck ylossy greeuisli-hlack : chin and sides of throat dull black, the latter sepandeil from the 

 feathers on the sides of the head and throat by a broad bn.jfy-ivliite streak : centre of throat, sides of 

 iirck and the fore-neck dull white, the former mottled irith bufly-white, and the latter irashed with 

 ochreous-biiff, and having transverse black bars across all the feathers : the remainder of the under 

 surface dull n-hite, and siiailarly crossed irilh blackish bars. 7'otal length lH'i inclies, iriny S, tail 

 7 '7, bill I, tarstis J--i5. 



Distribution — North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, (Queensland, 

 New South Wales. 



/T^HIS is another instance of Latham describing,' a l>ird without ever seeing a specimen, but 

 -L characterising it from a drawing of Watling's, now in the British Museum, and as the 

 late Dr. R. B. Sharpe remarks" : — " This drawing is the type of the species, and is a very 

 good representation of the Australian Koel." Latham was able to give a very fair description 

 of the adult female, under the name of the " Blue-headed Cuckoo," in the Supplement to his 

 •' General Synopsis of Birds," hut he altogether errs as to its size, which he states is about nine 

 inches in length, instead of sixteen inches and a half. 



Flinder's Cuckoo, or Australian Koel, is freely distributed over North-western Australia, 

 the Northern Territory of South Australia, (Queensland, and the north-eastern portions of New 

 South Wales, specimens occasionally being obtained as far south as the County of Cumberland, 

 and there is a skin of an adult female in the Australian Museum Collection, presented by Dr. 

 CuUen, and procured by him at Hunter's Hill, near Sydney, on the 2gth January, 1S9S. I met 

 with this species, and often heard its note, frequently too throughout the night, during trips 

 made to the Upper Clarence District and the Tweed River District, in the North-eastern portion 

 of New South Wales. Flinder's Cuckoo evinces a decided preference for the coastal brushes, 

 where fruit and berry-bearing trees abound, upon which it principally feeds. An adult female 

 specimen sent me from the New England District, was shot while feeding on cherries in an 

 orchard. 



The prolonged and somewhat doleful notes, which Mr. G. Savidge likens to a "coo-ee," seems 

 to be a feature of the northern rivers species, especially throughout the night, and this is 

 often varied by the harsh notes of the next two species, Scvthtvps novir-hollaiidur and Ccutropus 

 phasidJiiis. 



There is a variation in the colour of the upper parts of fully adult males, some having the 

 feathers of the back and the scapulars distinctly shaded with blue or green, others with purple, 

 spirit specimens assuming a dull oil-green colour on these parts. The wing-measurement of 

 adult males varies from 7-8 mches to 8'6 inches. 



L'r. W. Macgillivray writes me: — '' Eiidynamis cyanoicphnla arrives in the Cloncurry District, 

 Northern (Queensland, about the middle of December, with the first rains, and departs usually 

 in March or .'\pril, although staying sometimes until i\Lay. Young ones have been seen during 

 March tended by Yellow-throated Miners. The birds themselves are plentiful." 



Mr. H. G.Barnard sends me the following note from Bimbi, Duaringa, (Queensland :— 

 " Flinder's Cuckoo or Koel {Eiidymwiis cyanocephala) is very rare in this district. I have never 



Hist. Coll. Brit. Mus., Bds., p. 121 (1906). 



