Vol. IX. 

 I9I0 



] Stray Feathers. 1 63 



Amytis macrura Re-discovered. — Referrincr to Amytis 

 varia, provisionally described by me as a new species in The 

 Victorian Naturalist (xxv., pp. 75 and 86), the opinion of experts 

 is that the two skins I obtained are rcievdihile to Amytis inaa^ura, 

 Gld., although there are no specimens of this species in either 

 Sydney, Melbourne, or the South Kensington Museums, and the 

 type skins are in Paris, so I was unable to compare my birds 

 with them. The only work in my possession at the time when I 

 described the birds was Gould's " Handbook," and this gives the 

 total length of Amytis macrura as 53^ inches. This measure- 

 ment is apparently an error, but it caused me to form the opinion 

 that the bird I procured was a new species. — TOM CARTER. 

 Broome Hill, Western Australia. 



A Tribute to the White-eye. — An illustration of the great 

 value of the dainty little White-eye {Zosterops) to orchardists 

 has come under my notice. In a garden close by our place a 

 tree of the Rome Beauty apple became afflicted with a virulent 

 species of aphis — what is generally known as the " cotton blight." 

 Recognizing that if this new pest was not quickly eradicated it 

 would in all probability spread over the whole garden, the owner 

 tried every means at his disposal to stamp it out ; but phenyle, 

 kerosene, and many other remedies availed nothing, and the 

 gardener was resigning himself to the sacrifice of his tree, when 

 salvation came from an unexpected quarter. One bright day 

 the housewife was surprised to see a flock of White-eyes in the 

 tree busily at work. The industrious little birds cleared the tree 

 of the pest. I was not surprised when the grower told me that 

 his opinion of the little White-eye had undergone a change. A 

 few months ago he was abusing them ; now he is loud in their 

 praise. " I reckon," said he, " they earn all they charge." — 

 A. H. Chisholm. Maryborough (Vic), 26/8/09. 



A Cuckoo Day. — At Ringwood, Victoria, on 31st October, 

 in company with Messrs. J. A. Ross, L. G. Chandler, and F. E. 

 Wilson, I, or others of the party, observed no fewer than four nests 

 containing five Cuckoos' eggs, besides those of the foster-parents. 

 Chalcococcyx basalis is always very common in this district, and an 

 egg was noticed in the nest of Malurus cyanocJilamys. Another 

 was found in the nest of AcantJiiza pusilla, together with two 

 eggs of the Tit and an ^'g^ of Cacoviantis rufulus. C. rufulus 

 is also very common in this locality, and I added a new combina- 

 tion to my collection in the shape of an &gg of this variety 

 accompanying two beautiful dark eggs of ChtJiotticola sagittata. 

 Another nest of the ChtJwnicola contained two young, just 

 hatched, and a heavily incubated &%g of a Cuckoo, which, if not 



