CACOMANTIS. 245 



lineata, A. nand^ A. pusilla, andJ.. reguloides; the latter, Mcdurus 

 cyaneus, and M. lamberti. Now, having compared the greatly 

 enlarged entrances of those nests from which we have taken 

 Cuckoo's eggs with the entrances of those which did not contain 

 the egg of a Cuckoo, and which we took as soon as the bird had 

 laid its full number of eggs for a sitting, I cannot but feel convinced 

 more than ever that the eggs of these parasites are laid in the 

 nests, and not deposited in any other manner. The average width 

 of the entrances of the nests of Acanthiza lineata which have not 

 been visited by a Cuckoo is one inch, while those which have 

 contained Cuckoo's eggs vary from two to two inches and a-half. 

 In addition to the nests of Acanthiza pusilla, we have known this 

 Cuckoo (C.flahelliformis) deposit its eggs in the nest of A. 

 reguloides and Chthonicola minima. How great is the difference 

 between the Cuckoo's eggs and those of this last bird (Chthonicola 

 m,inima), which are of a bright reddish-chocolate ! The eggs of 

 Cacomantis Jlabelli/ormis are from ten to ten lines and a-half in 

 length by seven to seven Lines and a-half in breadth. The ground 

 colour is a delicate white, spotted and dotted with wood-brown, 

 deep brownish-lilac, and faint lilac dots, which appear beneath the 

 surface. Some specimens are faintly sprinkled all over, and the 

 dots have a washed-out appearance ; others are marked more 

 strongly, and in these the markings formed are in a distinct zone 

 at the larger end, which is sometimes broken by a batch of very 

 deep coloured dots." (Samstiy, P.Z.S., 1865, p. 463.) 



Two eggs of this species taken from the nests of Acanthiza 

 pusilla and Chthonicola minima, measures as follows : — length (A) ' 

 0-88 X 0-6 inch ; (B) 0-83 x 0-6 inch. 



Sab. Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port 

 Denison, Wide Bay District, Dawson River, Richmond and 

 Clarence Rivers Districts, New South Wales, Interior, Victoria 

 and South Australia, Tasmania, West and South-west Australia 

 {Bamsaif.) 



