130 Order Coccyges, Family Cuculidae, Genus Heteroscenes. 



Adult female. — All under surface brownish grey, lighter 

 on the flanks and vent, the feathers of the former being faintly 

 barred with dark grey; sides of neck and throat mottled with 

 black and rufous; wing coverts strongly mottled with pale 

 grey and rufous; tail feathers barred on both sides with 

 rufous and white; upper tail, grey and elongated like those of 

 male, and "of ten mottled with white; under tail coverts white 

 with a few dark markings. Bill. — Olive brown, becoming 

 yellow at the gape; inside of mouth, deep orange. 



Feet. — Yellowish brown. 



Orbital ring. — Yellow. 



Iris. — Brown. 



In some cases the female has the white spot 'on the nape. 



Young. — Both sexes are much lighter in plumage than the 

 adults. Both are mottled, but this is less marked in the male 

 in which sex the rufous tint is: very faint. The female takes 

 on a deep rufous mottling from the nest, and retains most of it 

 throughout life. In Captain S.A. White's collection are speci- 

 mens from the eastern states, showing very little rufous on the 

 throat, and the black marking on that part of the body are very 

 faint, and show a greyish tint. 



The difference between male and female was first pointed 

 put in these pages by Captain White. Previous to that time 

 the mottled bird was considered to< be the immature form. 



Distribution. — The whole of Australia including Tas- 

 mania. Birds from the 1 Northern Territory and Western Aus- 

 tralia have been described as subspecifically distinct. 



Habits. — They are strictly migrating, arriving on the Ade- 

 laide plains from the north about the middle of July, though 

 Mr. J. W. Mellor has noted them at the Reedbeds as early as 

 the middle of June. In the hills they are not usually 'seen un- 

 til the end of July or early in August. They do not congre- 

 gate in flocks. The birds very usually single, or at most in 

 twos when one is generally chasing the other. They perch 

 always on an exposed branch of a tree, or upon a fence post, 

 and prefer open plains or thickly timbered country to the thick 

 scrub. Much of their time is spent upon the ground, where 

 they get most of their food. They leave the Adelaide district 

 probably about the beginning of December, and go northward', 

 but how far is not known, but they have not so far been ob- 

 served outside of Australia, The greater number of the birds 

 seen on the Adelaide plains are on passage, probably for the 

 Eastern States, for eggs and young birds are very rare in this 

 district. 



