462 MR. E. P. RAMSAY ON THE [May 23, 
Eggs 
Nest. of Eggs of Cuckoo. 
owner. 
Sept. 29th, 1862 ...|dcanthiza pusilla| 2 1 of C. lucidus, var. B. 
Sept. 11th, 1863* ... § 2 {1 of C. lucidus, var. A. 
Sept. 12th, 1864 ...|4. lineata .........) 3 {1 of C. lucidus, var. A. 
Sept. 12th, 1864 ...|4. reguloides ...... 2 |1 of C. lucidus, var. B. 
Sept. 14th, 1864 ...|Malurus cyaneus.| 3  |1 of C. lucidus, var. B. 
Sept. 14th, 1864 ...|4. reguloides...... 3 {1 of C. lucidus, var. A. 
Nov. 1864 ............ A MONE .converacens 4 /2 of C. lucidus: 1 of var. A and 
1 of var. B. ° 
Sept. 16th, 1864 ...|Meliphaga sericea| 1 {1 of C. lueidus, var. B. 
Oct. 2nd, 1864 ...... Meliphaga sericea} 1 |1 of C. lucidus, var. B. 
Mr. Gould tells us that the Bronze Cuckoo is dispersed over the 
whole continent of Australia, as well as New Zealand. In the latter 
country I have myself met with it at every port I visited, from 
Stewart’s Island to Auckland, where it arrives about September, and 
leaves during February and March. 
(2.) The Unapornep Cuckoo (Cuculus inornatus) : Gould, B. 
Austr. iv. pl. 85. 
When the eggs of two or more species of Cuckoo are found in the 
same locality, and the birds themselves equally plentiful during the 
same months, it becomes difficult to determine which is the egg of 
each species, except perhaps where there is a great difference in the 
size of the birds. Even this, however, must not be depended upon 
in too great a degree, as will be seen in the present case. Followin 
the same plan as in the case of the Bronze Cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus), 
we succeeded in procuring two young Cuckoos from eggs which we 
had left in the nests of the Yellow-whiskered Honey-eater (Péilotis 
auricomis). These, when fledged, we at once recognized to be the 
young of Cuculus inornatus. 
The young, upon leaving the nest, have the throat, face, and 
shoulders black; the rest of the upper and under surface and tail 
irregularly marked with dashes and stripes of black, scarcely two fea- 
thers, even of wings, being alike. They retain this plumage until 
March and April, during which months all the specimens I procured 
were commencing to assume the more dusky plumage of the adult. 
During these months all the old birds seem to have left us, the young 
of the last season alone being found. 
The present species arrives early in September, and is usually met 
with in pairs, showing a preference for the half-cleared land and belts 
of trees skirting the more cultivated parts. They may frequently be 
seen perched upon the dead tops of trees, or among the lower open 
branches, or often on the posts and fences, from which they pounce 
down upon any unhappy grasshopper or cricket that they may have 
discovered lurking in the grass. 
Their food consists chiefly of Gryllide and Phasmida, various 
species of Mantis, and often the beautiful larvee of the Cequosa 
triangularis and Antherea eucalypti, which they obtain among the 
* This nest also contained one of Cuculus cineraceus. 
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