164 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 



BRONZE CUCKOO, 



Chaleococeyx plagosiis, Lath. 



Kal-co-kdk'siks pld-go' sus. 



Chalkofi, copper {i.e., of that colour); ZoH7/.r, a cuckoo ; flofin, a 



stripe ; ous, denoting " presence," fulness. 



Chrysococcyx lucidus, Gould, " Birds of Australia," fol., vol. iv., 



pi. 89. 



Geographical Distribution. — The whole of Australia and Tas- 

 mania. 



Key to the Species. — General appearance bronzy ; the under sur- 

 face clearly barred ; crown and back of neck dark violet-brown ; 

 basal half of tail never uniform rufous ; no rufous edges to 

 quills and with little rufous on under surface of wings and 

 outer pair of tail feathers. Tofal length, 6 '25 inches; wing, 

 4 inches ; tail, 3 inches. 



In the same district, and even in the same paddocks, we 

 have two species of Bronze Cuckoos that are very much 

 alike when on the wing. The one differing from the above 

 is known as the Rufous-tailed or Narrow-billed Bronze 

 Cuckoo, because it has a narrower bill and the basal two- 

 thirds of the tail are rufous. One lays a bronze egg, the 

 other a pink-spotted one. 



Of the Bronze Cuckoo (C. plagosus, Lath,), the earliest 

 find of its egg by myself was on 24th July, 1896 — a mild 

 winter — but the calls of the birds were not heard by me till 

 after this date. The foster-parent in this case was the 

 Yellow-tailed Tit ; and the last egg of the season observed 

 was on the 9th of January, 1897, also in the nest of the 

 Yellow-tailed Tit. The latest find of a young bird by the 

 writer was on the 12th of March, 1897; others had not 

 yet migrated. Sentiment, as with most birds, is in this 

 one. Early in September, w hen they arrive in the course 



