192 Mr. R. Hall on Birds 
No particular note upon the skin is necessary. Special 
interest, however, attaches to the distribution, because hitherto 
no mention has been made of the bird as inhabiting this set 
of coral islands. It is fond of exploring, and finds its way to 
a vast number of spots off the mainland. How it now fares 
on this treeless island (about 7 miles long) is easily demon- 
strated, because it had chosen the only possible spot to breed 
in, viz. an abandoned jetty, amongst the planks of which a 
pair of birds were going in and out. There is brackish water 
about three miles away, while thousands of lizards are to be 
had almost anywhere. 
51. CucuLUs PALLiDus. Pallid Cuckoo. (HalFs Key, 
p. 58.) 
L procured a young bird at Katanning, 5.10.99^ also 
an egg in a nest of the Red-wattle Bird. The immature 
bird still retains fledgling feathers on the forehead and 
sparsely on the chest. The upper tail-coverts are clear grey. 
1 noticed many young birds on the wing at Geraldton on 
Oct. 29th, shewing olive round the eye instead of clear yellow. 
I handled an adult bird in the flesh near Albany on 
Sept. 27th. 
52. Cacomantis flabelliformis. Fan-tailed Cuckoo. 
(HalFs Key, p. 58.) 
A. Sk. imm. c?. 16.10.99. Geraldton. 
B. Sk. nestling. 3.11.99. Denmark. 
Specimen A. — Brown above, except the tail-coverts, with 
faint cross-bars appearing as if beneath the surface ; upper 
tail-coverts — the first part of the bird to shew signs of 
maturity — bluish, the tW'O central feathers of the tail 
" notched '' on the outer w^eb with rufous ; the external quills 
of the tail " notched ^^ on the proximal ends, with white 
on the outer web and rufous on the distal ends of the same 
quills and same webs ; the middle quills of the tail shew 
more rufous than white on the outer webs; the breast is more 
crenately marked than the back ; the under tail-coverts are 
pale brown. 
Specimen B. — Nearly ready to fly ; the last of the quills 
