INSESSORES. 513 



the egg of a Cuckoo ; this egg is of a very pale flesh-colour, 

 eleven and a half lines long by eight and a half broad, and 

 usually without any markings ; but one specimen had a few 

 dots of black and dark reddish brown upon a pale flesh- 

 coloured ground. I have also taken similar eggs from the 

 nests of a species of Ptilotis and of Melithreptus lunulatus. 

 I have not been able to determine to which species of Cuckoo 

 they belong — most probably to the Ciicidus cinereus,'' i. e. 

 Cacoman tis Jlahelliformis. 



The female of this species, as is the case with others of the 

 genus, is smaller than the male, but exhibits no diff'erence 

 whatever in the colouring of her plumage. 



Crown of the head olive-yellow; throat bright yellow; a 

 black line commences at the base of the bill, smTOunds the 

 eye, and extends over the ear-coverts ; behind the ear springs 

 a lengthened tuft of rich yellow feathers ; upper surface, wings, 

 and tail dark brown, with a tinge of olive ; primaries and tail- 

 feathers margined with olive-yellow ; chest and under surface 

 brownish yellow; bill black; irides reddish brown; feet 

 blackish brown. 



Sp. 313. PTILOTIS CRATITIA, Gould. 



Wattle-cheeked Honey-eater. 



Ptilotis cratitius, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 160. 

 Meliphaga cratitia, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 122, Meliphaga, 



sp. 13. 

 Liclienostomus cratitius, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil. i. p. 119, note. 

 occidentalis Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 119? 



Ptilotis cratitius, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iv. pi. 38. 



I first met with this new species of Honey-eater on the 

 26th of June 1839, on the ranges near the Upper Torrens in 

 South Australia : it appeared to be a most pugnacious bird, 

 driving every other species from the tree upon which it was 

 feeding. I afterwards met with it on Kangaroo Island and 



2 L 



