C A COMANTIS CASTANEI VENTRIS, Gould . 
Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo. 
Cuculus ( Cacomantis ) castaneiventris, Gould in Ann. & Mag. of Nat. Hist., 3rd ser. vol. xx. p. 269. 
This is a new species belonging to a small section of the Cuculidas which is peculiar to Australia 
and the islands lying to the northward of that continent as far as the Philippines. In their general 
contour, the Cacomantes are slender and elegant ; on the other hand their colours are in general plain and 
unobtrusive ; while in their demeanour they are sedate and quiet, making less display in their attitudes and 
actions than the true Cuckoos, and they never emit that well-known sound. Of the other Australian 
species, it is most nearly allied to the old Cacomantis Jlabelliformis , but differs in its smaller size 
and in the uniform deep chestnut colouring of its under surface. Its native country is undoubtedly 
Queensland, as the specimen I have figured was received thence direct, in a collection formed by 
J. Jardine, Esq., in the Cape York district. In all probability this is the species spoken of by Mr. 
E. P. Ramsay, in the ‘Ibis’ for 1866, p. 331, where he says: “Since 1862, I have several times, 
throughout various parts of the year, received specimens of a second Cuckoo from Port Denison ; and as 
I am unable to find any description at all fitting it in Gould’s ‘ Birds of Australia,’ or any other publication, 
I believe it to be in all probability a new species, the decision of which, however, I shall leave to those 
better acquainted with the group. All the specimens that have been received from Port Denison are 
exactly alike in plumage, and were procured from February to December. In size they are slightly smaller 
than Cacomantis Jlabelliformis” 
I may remark that I have compared my specimen with the Cuckoos in the collection at the British 
Museum without finding a corresponding example. Its nearest ally is a Philippine bird which may be 
the Cacomantis sepulchralis of Bonaparte. The Cacomantis bronzina of Mr. G. R. Gray is also very similarly 
coloured, but is a much larger bird. 
Chin, ear-coverts, crown, and upper surface deep purplish grey ; all the under surface, including the 
under tail-coverts, bright chestnut-red; wings brown, glossed with olive; upper tail-coverts and ’'tail deep 
greyish purple, all the feathers tipped and the lateral ones toothed on their inner web with white, which 
assumes on the two outer ones the appearance of interrupted bars ; bill purplish black ; legs and feet orange ; 
nails black. 
Total length 9^- inches, bill wing 4R tail 5, tarsi |- 
The Plate represents the bird of the size of life. 
