PALLID CUCKOO. 
creamy-white ; flight-quills pale brown margined, notched, or barred with white 
or huffy-white ; lower back w^hite with dark elongated shaft-streaks to the feathers ; 
upper tail-coverts browm with white disintegrated margins and white spots to the 
feathers ; tail dark browm with white notches, white bars, and the outer ones with 
w^hite tips to the feathers, also white shafts near the tips ; fore part of head, sides 
of the neck, face, throat, and upper-breast dusky-brown with whitish margins to 
some of the feathers, particularly on the throat, sides of neck, and upper-breast ; 
lower-breast, abdomen, axillaries, and under tail-coverts dull white, the feathers 
marked more or less with brown, especially on the lower-breast, Avhere they are 
elongated streaks and take the form of grey bars on the axillaries ; under wing- 
coverts creamy-white with dark spots and grey bars on the long series ; quills below 
pale browm, barred with white ; lower aspect af tail dark brown notched and barred 
with white. Figured. Collected at Selby, Victoria, on the 26th of December, 1911. 
And is almost identical vdth the Watling drawing, which is the t 3 q)e of Columha 
'pallida Latham. And is especially figured for this reason. 
Fledgling. Upper-surface sandy-buff, the feathers centred with black arrow-head markings ; 
wings and tail-feathers dark brown fringed or tipped with white ; fore-head and 
throat dark brown or blackish ; remainder of the under-surface white streaked 
with dark brown. 
Egg. Pale pink, with few specks. 23-25 mm. by 17. 
Breeding-season. August to December or January. 
The early history of this species is mostly concerned with the confusion 
surrounding the scientific name, so much that it seems best to deal with it 
in connection with the systematic portion of my account. 
In his folio work, Gould figured it under the name Cuculus inornatua^ 
which had been given to it by Vigors and Horsfield, who wrote : “ Mr. Caley 
marks the two birds described above as male and female of the same species, 
and we have accordingly given them as such. ‘ The earhest period of the 
year,’ he remarks in his Notes, ‘ at which I have met with this species at 
Parramatta, was September 6th, 1803. I have missed it in January. It may 
be frequently heard and seen on the tops of dead trees on the skirts of the 
woods, and such as have been left standing on the cleared ground.’ Without 
comment they described Cuculus albostrigatus, which is the immature plumage 
of the same species. 
Gould’s account is quite full and covers most of the notes concerning its 
habits, so that it is here reproduced : “ The southern portion of Australia 
generally, and the island of Tasmania, are inhabited by this species of Cuckoo ; 
to the latter country, however, it is only a summer visitant, and a partial 
migration also takes place in the adjacent portion of the continent, as is 
shown by its numbers being much fewer during winter. It arrives in Tasmania 
in the month of September, and departs northward in February. During 
the vernal season it is an animated and querulous bird, and may then be seen 
either singly, or two or more males engaged in chasing each other from tree 
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