Mr. Broinowski's Observations. 207 



proportionate size ; and if in spite of that, it is para- 

 sitic, and so survives, have we not here another 

 ground for saying that the reduction in size in egg of 

 Canorus is less necessary than might at first sight 

 appear ? 



In so far we have the results of later research and 

 observations in the Companion to Gould's Birds, by 

 Mr. Sylvester Diggles. He says that the channel 

 bell cuckoo (Scythrops Novcb- Hollands) lays its eggs 

 in nests of other birds, and principally those of birds 

 much smaller than itself. It is migratory, appearing 

 in October and departing in June — eight mpnths ; so 

 that pressure of time could have nothing to do with 

 its parasitism. 



Mr. G. J. Broinowski does not say decidedly if it 

 is migratory and, if it is, to what extent it is so. We 

 can but infer from his words that it is not, but resi- 

 dent there. He gives as its habitats — " inland portion 

 of Australia generally,'' which looks to us as though 

 it were practically resident. Certainly, it does not 

 migrate over sea. Its note, Mr. Broinowski adds, is 

 quite different from that of our common cuckoo. 



Mr. Broinowski tells of Cacomantis flahelliforinis, 

 or fantailed cuckoo, that it lays but one egg in a nest 

 of what is almost always a smaller variety of bird. 

 It is migratory, spending the summer in Tasmania, 

 and returning to Austraha in January and February. 

 But it is evident that if it lays but one egg, it has 

 abundant time to brood and hatch it and attend to 

 the young bird ; so that pressure of time for migra- 

 tion can have nothing to do with its parasitism either. 



Thus one most important thing learned from certain 

 of the Australian cuckoos, which are as pronouncedly 



