CUCL'LID.E. 



western part of Western Australia. During a few weeks stay in Tasmania, towards the latter 

 end of 1906, I frequently met with it on Mount \Vellin<,'ton, also Lampi'tHoccyx plagosiis and L. 

 Iiasnlis. 



There is a variation in the depth of colour of the under parts in adult specimens, in the 

 neighbourhood of Sydney it is a resident species, and is found throughout the year, and of the 

 six species found near the metropolis, it is one that least makes its presence known by its notes, 

 and is of most unobtrusixe habits. It fre(]uents open forest lands, culti\ation areas, scrub and 

 brush lands, and the wooded sides and gullies of mountain ranges. In common with the preceding 

 species the flight of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo is somewhat laboured, and it elevates its tail directly 

 it alights. Post and rail fences are its usual resting places about paddocks and orchards, and 

 in the brush more often near the end of a dead lateral branch of a tree. At Roseville, Middle 

 Harbour and Manly I have obtained these birds principally in July and August, and have found 

 the egg in the nest of Acanthiza pmiUa on the 6th of the latter month. 



The stomachs examined contained principally the larva- of insects. 



In the neighbourhood of Sydney the egg of the I'an-tailed Cuckoo is more often deposited 

 in the nests oi Acantliha piisilla, Clithoiticola sagiltiila, Senioi'nis fronta/is, a.nd Oiij^nia inhncntn. In 

 the brushes to the north of the Hawkesbury River, and extending to the Tweed River, Sti-iioriiis 

 iiuigniivstvis is often selected as a foster parent, and far less freijuently .?. citrco^ulat'is, and although 

 the former species more often relines the deserted tenement of the latter than it constructs a 

 nest of its own, it is remarkable that the Fan-tailed Cuckoo's eggs are found far more frequently 

 with the eggs o{ Sii-icornis }iidL;i!irosti-is than they are with .S". citycu'^iilaris. I first found the Rock 

 Warbler to be a foster parent of this Cuckoo while nesting at Chatswood in company with 

 Mr. C. G. Johnston and Mr. D. Swift, my attention being drawn to it by the actions of a pair 

 of Rock Warblers. I observed them enter several times, with food in their bills, a recess in the 

 rocky sides of a gully close to a small waterfall, fly out again, and then return with more. 

 On examining the floor of this small cave shelter I found a fully fledged young Fan-tailed 

 Cuckoo being fed by a Rock Warbler, and close by the nest of the foster parent in which it had 

 been reared, and probably torn down by its own weight. Since then I have frequently 

 found the eggs of the Gia)Wi7;;/;'syf((if////f);»;/i in the nest of the Rock Warbler. Sometimes it 

 was deposited before the nest was completed, at other times when one or more eggs of the 

 rightful owner had been laid, and on several occasions I ha\e found a fresh egg of this Cuckoo, 

 after young birds had left the nest. Twice the nests, containing each a Cuckoo egg, were built 

 in recesses in the rocks were the Cuckoo would have to fly through the spray of a waterfall in 

 order to deposit its egg, and on two occasions I have found new nests of a Rock Warbler each 

 containing one of this Cuckoo's eggs, and lying on the floor of the shelters, and probably torn 

 down by the weight of the Cuckoo when depositing its egg. I have only on two occasions 

 found more than two Rock Warbler's eggs in the nest when it also contained a Cuckoo. 

 Cacomantis flahcllifurniis is the only species of Cuckoo I have found that utilised the usually well 

 hidden nests of the Rock Warbler. Frequently the chambers to which the top of the pendant 

 domed nests of Ovignni ruhricatn are suspended, have been so gloomy that I ha\'e had to light a 

 match to discover the nest. 



The nest of the Buff-rumped Thornbill (Gcohasilcus rciiu/oidci) is also freijuently utilized by 

 the Fan-tailed Cuckoo wherein to deposit her eggs. I found the egg of this Cuckoo on one 

 occasion only in the nest of Lambert's Superb Warbler [Maluyus lamhcrii), but have in several 

 instances found the egg, or a young Cuckoo in the nest, of the White-fronted Scrub Wren 

 {Sericornis fi'ontnUs). I discovered one remarkably well concealed nest of this species only by 

 the actions of the birds. Passing quietly along a bridle track through the scrub at Middle 

 Harbour, on the 27th September, 1906, I noticed a White-fronted Scrub Wren almost at my 

 leet. The ground around this scrub was covered with a thick carpeting of gum-lea\es from the 



