1869.] . MR: E. P. RAMSAY ON AUSTRALIAN CUCKOOS. 399 
plaited, the top and second plait semibifurcated, pure white, shining 
and porcellanous, as is also the interior of the mouth and the under 
part of the shell; aperture elongated, lip simple, not thickened; of 
a dull whitish-brown colour above. 
Length 3 inches, breadth 13, height 154. 
Hab. Banks’s Straits. 
This beautiful species, of which I have two specimens in my 
cabinet, is at once distinguished from any other species by its dense, 
white, shining, porcellanous interior and under surface. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE XXVI. 
Figs. 1, la. Cyprea thatcheri, p. 358. Fig. 3. Voluta sclateri, p. 358. 
2a, 26. Voluta harfordi, p. 358. 4. Haliotis hargravesi*, p. 49. 
9. Some further Remarks on the Cuckoos found in the Neigh- 
bourhood of Sydney, and their Foster-parents. By E. P, 
Ramsay, C.M.Z.S. 
(Plate XXVII.) 
In some former remarks on the Cuckoos found in the neighbour- 
hood of Sydney (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 460), it will be remembered that 
the species recently termed by Mr. Gould Lamprococcyx plagosus 
and L. basalis (Gould’s Handb. B. Austr. i. pp. 623, 626) were 
regarded as one species under the name of Chalcites lucidus 
(Gould’s Birds of Austr. iv. pl. 89), and that I described their eggs 
as two varieties of the egg of the same species. At that time my 
remarks were so far correct. Now, however, as most ornithologists 
agree in considering LZ. plagosus and L. basalis distinct species 
(and L. lucidus from New Zealand as a third), it will be necessary 
to make a few remarks on the subject. My reasons for treating 
L. plagosus and L. éasalis as varieties of the same species were 
manifold. The young on leaving the nest are scarcely (if at all) to 
be distinguished from one another ; their notes are for the most part 
exactly alike; the colouring and marking of the eggs are not con- 
stantly different ; and, lastly, the plumage of one is merely a shade 
lighter or darker than that of the other. The only differences of 
any value are the thinness of the bill in Z. dasalis, and the much 
deeper tint and greater extent of the rufous on the second and third 
outer tail-feathers ; for it must be remembered, although seemingly 
overlooked by Mr. Gould, that the two tail-feathers next to the 
outer one on either side are distinctly marked with rufous in L. 
plagosus. 
But, however slight the differences between these two species may 
be, either in the eggs, the young on leaving the nest, or in the fully 
adult birds, there is one fact that sets the question at rest, viz. that 
the young, about three months old, have the same characteristic 
* For the description of this shell see Dr. Cox’s previous paper, anted page 49. 
