NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 421 



NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 



Dr. Hurst exhibited the egg of a Cuckoo taken out of the 

 remains of a nest of Malurus cyaneus, at Newington, Parramatta 

 River, on December 22nd, 1887, and in reference to it read 

 the following note: — On the 4th December, in company with 

 a friend, I visited Newington, and found, amongst the dead 

 leaves of a bi'anch lying on the ground, the nest of Malurus 

 cyaneus containing several eggs of the Malurus, and an egg of 

 Chrysococcyx basalts, all quite fresh. I left the nest intending to 

 revisit it on the 18th December, but was unable to do so. How- 

 ever, on the 22nd December I revisited the spot, and found that the 

 nest had been robbed by some one, and broken up. I picked 

 up the bottom of the nest close by, handed it to my friend, who in 

 tearing it to pieces found an egg in the wall of the nest, 

 evidently laid there befoi'e the nest was finished, and covered up 

 with fresh material by the owner of the nest. It had quite 

 escaped the observation of those who had appropriated the 

 other eggs in the nest. This egg corresponds with eggs which I 

 have previously only found in, and seen taken from the nests of the 

 white-shafted fantail {Rhipidura albiscapa), and which, fi'om a 

 local name of the Rhvpidura, a friend of mine, Mr. Waterhouse, 

 has been accustomed to call the eggs of the " Devil Bird 

 Cuckoo." The egg is of a thick ovoid form, and of a creamish- 

 white colour marked with spots and blotches of brown sienna, 

 which near the larger end form a well-defined zone. Here and 

 there among the brown spots are blotches of a bluish-grey or 

 slate colour, which appear as if they were underneath or in the 

 substance of the shell. The blotches, both brown and slate 

 colour, are larger in the zone than on the rest of the shell. The 

 size of my egg is 0*7 x 0-53 inch. The measurements of three 

 eggs taken by Mr. Waterhouse, of the High School, "West Mait- 

 land, from nests of the white-shafted fantail on three separate 

 occasions, are — (1) 0-7 x 0-58, (2) 0-73 x 0-58, (3) 07 x 0-55 

 inch. Dr. Ramsay kindly allowed me to measure an egg in 



