92 
NATURE NOTES. 
keen eye detected. The long upright tail was formed of such 
fine feathers that it looked unsubstantial, like a tiny streak of 
mist. This diminutive visitor was most likely the emu-wren 
{Stipiturus malachums), very rarely seen in this district. 
August 30. — During the last four days the wind has been 
blowing very strongly from the same quarter — the east, off the 
sea — Bass’s Straits, about three miles away. This strong 
easterly wind was accompanied by occasional drizzling showers ; 
this afternoon there was a shift to the north, with fine weather 
at first, then heavy rains. The north is our rainy quarter in this 
colony. 
September 6. — The first cuckoo of the season was heard to-day, 
this being our first spring month. This bird has not the English 
cuck-00, but utters a series of rippling notes, like clear running 
water, which sound delightful when heard early on a bright 
spring morning. The typical cuck-00 note is represented in 
this species by a sort of double whistle, to which it occasionally 
gives utterance. It is curious to note how common these two 
whistling notes are among our birds in the breeding season. 
The dusky robin [Petreeca vittata) and the quail {Synoicus diemen- 
cnsis) both possess it, with this difference, that in the former the 
first note is pitched high, the second much lower, while in the 
•quail’s call the reverse takes place. The whistle uttered by the 
cuckoo when sitting contentedly on a fence or stump is very soft 
and plaintive as it falls on the ear, affecting one quite differentl)' 
to the series of bright rippling notes previously mentioned. 
This cuckoo is not shy, like the English bird, but will come 
and sit on the garden fence and whistle away quite fearlessly. 
When it alights on a stump or post it does not continue stand- 
ing, but sits closely down so that its legs are quite concealed, 
and then begins its note. There are five cuckoos known in 
Tasmania, all of which come in the spring and go across the 
Straits again in the autumn to winter in the warmer portions 
of Australia. The species whose habits we have been noting 
{Cuculus flabclliformis) is always the first to appear here, and 
comes in considerable numbers, so that in a day or two after 
the first has been heard, the bush is quite musical with their 
trillings. It is smaller than the British cuckoo, but there is a 
species (C. pallidus) much larger, which frequents open country, 
and especially the plains near Table Cape township. It flies from 
tree to tree with a graceful, undulating motion, and makes the 
plains resound with its strong, rich voice, given out in a series 
of notes which gradually rise in pitch and intensity until the)' 
reach the climax, where they abruptly cease. This interesting 
bird appears to resemble in its habits the hawk cuckoo [lliero- 
coccyx varius) of India. Professor Rymer Jones, in speaking of 
the latter, talks of its “loud crescendo notes, which somewhat 
resemble pipeeha ! pipeehi ! repeated several times, each time 
in a higher tone than the last, until they become exceedingly 
loud an(l shrill,” which describes pretty accurately the voice of 
our large species. 
