CACOMANTIS. / 



fori'lieail, tori's^ I'liin and kjiji' r throat ijr^i/ixlt; car coi-ii-ls dark slaty-ijr' ij n:itli irlutish shaft str''(tk>!; 

 Iiiirrr t/irnat and reniai itdfr of thf iindi'T snr/'ace pah- riuuanion riifniis, hecoiiiiinj xJujhtJij Hi/hti'r mi, 

 (lie luiver ahdomnn and nndi r tnil cornrts : liill blnrk, jh'sh cn/our aronnd the hasr i>f Uik Imver mandible ; 

 Icy.s and ff't yfllon:ish-olir'' : r i/fi/id briijht i/rl/on- : inside ofmonlh reddisli-ornnijt' ; iris dark brown. 

 Total fenytli in tlh /f'.i/i ID'T inchi's, ndii'j ■'>'<>, l.nil ./■,'/, biU Q-oo, tnr.ins lt-7-j. 



Adl'LT FKMALE. — Stomn-hot .-iiinilnr in phiniiiijft to tlip male, bnt smaller, and Imring the iindfr 

 jHirts pahr and showing trares on the, lotcer breast nf n/nmerons n^ri/ indistiiui, narroic, transrerse 

 broirii barrings to llie f'-atln'ri. Wi/ig 'r.l inches. 



Distribntion. — Oueeiisland, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South Austraha, Western Australia, 

 North-western Australia, Tasmania. 



i|F,N the January number of "The Ibis" for lyod, I pointed out" that the name of Ciicidus 

 JL. j/ahfllifoiiiiis appears to have been erroneously applied by writers in general. This name 

 was founded upon the " F"an-tailed Cuckoo " of Latham's " General Synopsis of Birds," his 

 description of the tail of the latter being as follows: — " The tail is greatly cuneiform ; the two 

 middle feathers black ; tlie others the same on the outer webs, but barred on the inner with 

 alternate black and white." Latham's figure, too, on folate cxxvi., agrees with his description, 

 showing that the outer wel>s of the outermost feather on both sides — the only feathers with the 

 outer webs visible — are unbarred, and that the inner webs are only toothed or notched about 

 half way across, and not barred right across to the shaft. Since writing the above I have 

 received a copy of " The History of the Collections contained in the Natural ilistory Depart- 

 ments of the British Museum," Birds, by I'r. K. liowdler Sharpe, and he there refers Latham's 

 description to Cdiomantii /fahcUifurinii of the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," and 

 points out that Latham had taken both his description and figure from one of Watling's 

 drawings, " but his plate represents the bird as of a deeper red colour underneath than in 

 Watling's picture, which may have faded a little ; the latter writer says that the figure was of 

 the ' natural size." It is the type of the species." One can discern that Latham had never 

 taken his description from a specimen, as he remarks of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo, — " This elegant 

 bird is about the size of a Song Thrush, and ten inches in length, the tail occupying at least 

 one third," whereas the length of the tail is slightly over one half of the total length. As I have 

 pointed out, Latham's description and figure of 0((;(/»s/?(7i(7///'()>'w/s agrees with Gould's very 

 accurate description and figure of CiiLtdus iiisptratiis, in his folio edition of the " Birds of 

 -Australia." Many, howe\er, of Latham's inaccurate and misleading descriptions where founded 

 only on a drawing or painting of a bird, might well be relegated to oblivion, for it is hardly fair 

 that one who has accurately described and figured a species from the actual specimens, as for 

 instance Gould has so often done, should have to give way so far as nomenclature is concerned 

 to one who has taken his description from, perhaps, a very indifferent painting, of which he has 

 no means of gauging its accuracy, nor has he ever seen the bird he vainly attempts to convey 

 an idea of to others, and for which his name is to stand as the authority ; C. pdlliolntus is another 

 instance of Latham's misleading descriptions, and which is also taken from a painting of 

 Watling's. -\s the specific name of C. flahdUfoyntis is founded only on a painting, it would be 

 better to discard it altogether, as there is some doubt from the description and figure to which 

 species (the Fan-tailed or Brush Cuckoo), it is intended to apply. To do this, however, would 

 only tend to confuse the nomenclature, and I think that it is better to let the name of C. 

 jJnbellifoniiis stand for the species to which it has been generally applied. The Fan-tailed 

 Cuckoo is distributed at one season or another throughout the greater portion of Eastern, 

 Southern and Western Australia, and is likewise a spring visitant to Tasmania. In the 

 Australian Museum collection there are skins of this species from many of the coastal districts 

 from Cooktown in the north-eastern portion of Queensland to King George's Sound in the south- 



Ibis, p. 54 (1906). 



