1868.] MR. J. GOULD ON NKW AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 75 



with spots or bands of black and white ; a similar mark of black and 

 white also occurs on the tips of the three other lateral feathers. In 

 some individuals (probably immature) the feathers of the scap\ilaries 

 are indistinctly barred near the shoulder with the bronzy green and 

 buff seen in some of the extra- Australian species of the genus, but 

 which I have not observed to exist in any other examples from that 

 country. It would not have been necessary to give such minute 

 details respecting this little Cuckoo, were it not most difficult to 

 diagnose the members of this genus of parasitic birds, respecting 

 which we have yet much to learn, particularly with regard to the 

 colouring of their eggs, which are frequently totally different from 

 each other and from those of the Maluri, AcanthizcB, and other 

 birds in whose nests they are deposited. The young, too, are most 

 puzzling ; for they do not appear to follow the law which obtains in 

 the young of the true Cuckoos (genus Cuculus), and, instead of 

 being strongly barred like them, they are coloured uniformly, the 

 outer tail-feathers only being barred with black and white. 



Not having the opportunity or sufficient materials at hand to clear 

 up these points, I have requested Mr. Eamsay of New South Wales 

 to investigate those of the southern coast ; and he will doubtless be 

 most accurate in his statement as to the period when the throat and 

 under surface becomes barred. That this takes place very soon after 

 the birds leave the nest appears to be certain ; at least I have specimens 

 now before me which justify such an opinion. Has not my friend 

 Professor Schlegel described a little Cuckoo in this state ? And if 

 so, has he not been deceived by the unusual state of plumage ? 



The specific appellation I propose for the Cape York Chryso- 

 coccyx is russata, from the rusty hue of the under surface of the 

 primaries. 



Besides the Bronze Cuckoos, many of the birds of the Cape-York 

 district differ from allied species inhabiting other parts of Austraha ; 

 I may instance the Maluri, the MeliphagcB, &c. There also we find 

 a beautiful and apparently very common Pitta, closely assimilating 

 in colour, but in colour alone, to the P. strepitans ; and I seldom 

 receive a letter from my ornithological friends in Australia in which 

 inquiry is not made as to whether it has been named. By more 

 than one have I been favoured with the opinion that it is distinct 

 from its near ally ; yet up to the present time no specific appellation 

 has, I believe, been assigned to it. 



Having lately had a great number of specimens forwarded to me 

 which all agree in being of a smaller size and in having the under 

 surface of a deeper buff, I propose, notwithstanding the opinion 

 given in my ' Handbook,' to characterize it as distinct, and at the 

 same time to assign to it a name {simillima) which shall mark its 

 affinity to the older known species. It would be interesting to 

 ascertain the exact range of the two birds, and at what part of 

 Australia they inosculate. One thing is certain ; no example of Pitta 

 simillima has yet been found in the brushes of New South Wales, 

 where, on the other hand, the P. strepitans, which has never been 

 found at Cape York, is abundant. 



