464 MR, E. P. RAMSAY ON THE [May 23, 
During May I have found it very plentiful, preferring the lonely 
and more closely wooded parts, and the sandy scrub-lands studded 
with aged Banksie (B. serrata) and widely branching Eucalypti, 
where the undergrowth consists of low, thick, scrubby Lambertie 
(L. formosa), Acacias, and dwarf Banksias, &c. Stich are the parts 
of our neighbourhood frequented by this species for nearly a month 
after its arrival. Their clear wailing cry is often heard from the 
depths of the bush, giving quite a melancholy tone to the surround- 
ing neighbourhood. . 
June comes, and they leave their lonely haunts for the more open 
wooded parts. Here they may be seen, either singly or in pairs, 
often frequenting the gardens and orchards, where, among the leafless 
fruit-trees, their undulating flight and the peculiar cuckooish upward 
jerk of their tails at once render them conspicuous. As spring 
advances, their melancholy cry assumes a more cheerful tone, but is 
less often heard, giving place to a quicker and more harsh note. 
The shrill whistle of the Bronze Cuckoos (Chalcites lucidus) is 
now more often heard, accompanied by the mellow notes of the 
Brown Flycatcher (Micreca macroptera), singing on the topmost 
bough of some neighbouring tree; and the twittering of the dean- 
thize as they sport among the leafy branches of the Lucalypti, cling- 
ing to the ends of the twigs and leaves in every possible attitude, the 
tremulous anxious piping of the Spine-bills (Acanthorhynchus tenut- 
rostris), the varied inward note of the Silver-eye (Zosterops dor- 
salis), with other species far too many to mention here, keep up a 
merry chorus, and, tired of the winter fogs, welcome the bright 
spring mornings. 
As the birds pair off and the nesting-season commences, this 
Cuckoo seems to be less plentiful. Either some of them leave us, 
or they scatter over the bush so thinly that we do not observe their 
numbers. If some do migrate at this time, still many remain to 
deposit their eggs and to avail themselves of the nests of those spe- 
cies most suited to become the foster-parents of their young, after 
which they commence to leave us, and, with the exception of a few 
stragglers and young, appear to have all departed before the end of 
December. 
Among those species the nests of which are favoured by visits 
from this “ parasite” is Acanthiza pusilla, from a nest of which, in 
September 1863, we took no less than four eggs—two laid by the 
rightful owner of the nest, the other two by Cuckoos. One of these 
was a very fine specimen of var. B of Chalcites lucidus, the other 
an egg of the present species—Cuculus cineraceus. The entrance 
of this nest was greatly enlarged, being in width fully two inches ; 
and the hood, which usually conceals the entrances (which are near 
the top of the nest, and not generally wider than one inch across), 
was pushed back to such an extent that the eggs were rendered 
quite visible. 
I have now before me ten nests of Acanthize and four of Maluri, 
the former comprising Acanthiza lineata, A. nana, A. pusilla, and 
what at present I believe to be that of A. reguloides, the latter 
Malurus cyaneus and M. laméerti. ; 
