CUCU LUS CA NGEO I I) KS f.i/////,,- A 
A I'STRAUAX Cl'Ch'OO. (Jkm:s : Cuculus. 
fllHOSE who know the common Cuckoo in England will readily recognise this variety as its Australian 
I representative. It i> very like it in every particular, excepting that the true note so well known 
at home is wanting. 
The eggs arc deposited precisely alter the manner of the European Cuckoo, being laid in the 
nests of other birds, which, obeying a strange law, hatch and nourish the young intruder. The 
foster-mother is even frequently known to show more care for it than for her own progeny. The 
Cuckoo always grows up vigorous and most exacting. He demands a full share of whatever food is 
brought to the nest, and gets it. Not only that -the Cuckoo is frequently the most powerful of the 
family, and makes himself' so thoroughly at home that his weaker brethren often suffer thereby, being 
frequently thrown out by him before they are able to shift for themselves, and all this without any 
intervention on the part of the owner of the nest. 
The adult birds arc ravenous feeders, and this fact, coupled with their fierce appearance, gives 
them the air of Hawks. They never prey on other birds, however, their food consisting mainly of 
insects and larvae. 
Upper surfaces, slaty-grey : inner webs of the primaries, white: tail feathers, dark grey-brown, 
speckled with white on the inner webs and tipped with a lighter shade of grey ; throat, grey ; all the 
under surfaces dark buff-colour, with curved markings of black : bill, almost black, bordered with yellow 
round the base ; irides and feet, dee]) yellow. 
Length, I •"! inches: bill. 1} inch: wing, 7| inches: tail, (>£ inches: tarsi. | inch. 
Habitats: Northern inland portions of Australia generally. 
F 
GENUS CACOMANTIS (Mailer). 
OUK examples of this genus inhabit principally the more southern parts of Australia; all are 
parasitic in their habits. 
CACOMANTIS PALLIDUS. 
PALLID CUCKOO. Genus: Cacomantis. 
r I iHlS bird is common over most of the southern parts of Australia. It is met with in Tasmania, 
J- but much more seldom, and only in the early part of summer, after which time it migrates thence 
to Australia. During the winter months many of the birds move northward. It is a noisy bird, gay. 
and often quarrelsome, and continually makes its whereabouts known, even if not visible itself, by its cry, 
which is a succession of ringing notes on a rising scale, finishing up with several repetitions 
of the final note. 
