30 



CUCULID.E. 



taken its eggs, and the only birds I have seen feeding Ihe young were a pair of Friar-birds 

 (Philemon covnicidatus ). J'hese Cuckoos seem to keep near the coast Hne, where berries are 

 plentiful in the scrubs." 



Three eggs of P'linder's Cuckoo, taken at Marlon, near Cooktown, Queensland, by Mr. 

 H. W. i\Iunt respectively from tlie nests of the Sihery-crowned I'riar-bird, the Sordid Friar- 

 bird and Allied Oriole, are oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous and 

 of a very pale dull salmon-red ground colour, which is more or less covered, and particularly at 

 the larger end, with numerous fleecy markings, streaks, and a few spots of darker and different 

 shades of the ground colour intermingled with a few underlying markings of a washed-out violet- 

 grey, a few of the spots or streaks on the outer surface being distinctly darker than the remainder. 

 An egg taken from a nest of the Silvery-crowned Friar-bird, on the i^th February, ujoi, 

 measures — i-i8 x 0-17 inches. Another egg taken from an Allied Oriole's nest on the loth 

 February, igoi, measures — 1-3 x o'92 inches. 



An egg received on loan from Mr. (i. \. Keartland, and taken by Mr. Munt at Marten, 

 near Cooktown, Northern Queensland, is oval in form, the shell being close-grained and slightly 

 lustrous. It is of a reddish-buff ground colour, with dots, spots and freckles of different shades 

 of dull chestnut-red and purplish-grey, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of 

 the shell, all the markings as a rule being larger and more thickly disposed towards the larger 

 end. Length 1-24 x 0-87 inches. 



Ivespecting the taking of these eggs, Mr. Munt sent Mr. Keartland the following note : — 

 " (_)n the 27th November, 1899, while out with Mr. Robert Hislop, ]unr., at Marton, about five 

 miles from Cooktown, we both saw a Flinder's Cuckoo fly from a nest of the Silvery-crowned 

 Triar-bird ( I'liihinon art^cnfiii-pi.) On examining the nest i\Ir. Ilislop found that it contained one 

 egg, still quite warm, which was certainly not the egg of the Friar-bird. Three days later Mr. 

 Mislop took three eggs from the nest, two of which were the eggs of the Silvery-crowned Friar- 

 bird. The two eggs which I sent you were compared with the one Mr. Ilislop had. One, the 

 darker egg, was taken by me on the 6th February, 1900, from a nest of the Sordid l-'riar-bird. 

 The other was brought me on the loth February by a school boy, who said he had taken it 

 from a nest of the Allied Oriole. All the nests from which these eggs were taken were built in 

 broad-leaved Melaleuca trees, those of the Silvery-crowned Friar-birds being large open structures 

 formed of pieces of bark and lined with dried grasses." 



From Copmanhurst, on the Clarence River, New South Wales, Mr. George Savidge 

 records as follows : — "The Koel (Etuiyuamis cvanoeephala) is plentifully dispersed in all parts 

 of the Clarence River District, and it may be seen and heard in open forest country, also in the 

 dense scrub lands which abound on the Upper Clarence River. It arrives here in September 

 and departs again about the end of March, and may be heard at night as well as in the day time, 

 and its 'coo-ee' and other notes in quick succession are always welcome sounds. It is a restless 

 bird, ever on the move, and seems to live an unenviable life; other birds chase and llog it 

 unmercifully. I have seen Friar-birds attack it and force it to the ground, but that it can be 

 the master when it chooses I have also seen. Upon one occasion I saw a Satin Bower-bird 

 attacking it, and making a great noise. The foster parents of I'linder's Cuckoo in this district 

 are usually the l'"riar-bird (Pliileinun eonticiilaliis and P. eitniii;iilaris.) I have seen both these 

 species feeding the young. It is very fond of the mulberry tree, which supplies it with both food 

 and shelter ; it also eats largely of the wild fig and other berries. An egg in my collection, 

 taken from the oviduct of one of these birds, is similar to another found by me in the nest, 

 containing an egg of the Friar-bird." 



Mr. Savidge sent me for examination a set of two eggs of the Miner ( Myzaiitha ^amila), 

 with an egg of Etidynamii eyaiwccphala taken from the same nest, together with the following 



