PALLID CUCKOO. 
Cuckoo to quickly sit upon and by its greater strength smother and crush the 
hfe out of weaker or sickly nestlings. One can easily prove how readily the 
young birds in a nest make way by simply placing the finger in the nest and 
gently working it downwards beneath them, this action at once causing them to 
make for the uppermost position. The second day from hatching the Cuckoo 
had got rid of its three nest companions ; their carcases I found upon the 
ground. The Cuckoo up till this stage looked both well and strong ... at 
the end of the third day (it) looked seedy, and upon looking into the nest on 
the morning of the fourth day, I found it dead. Upon dissecting this young 
Cuckoo I found the organs in a wasted condition and the body devoid of any 
fatty substance, proving beyond doubt that death was due to starvation.” 
Mr. Tom Carter has furnished me with his notes made in the west : 
“ The Palhd Cuckoo is found in West Australia from the north-west to the 
south-west. In the mid-west they made their appearance with winter rains, 
from April to July. Their peculiar, monotonous cry is uttered both by 
day and night. A fledged young bird was shot near Point Cloates, Nov. 
15, 1900. At Broome Hill in the south-west they begin to appear about 
the middle of April and become very numerous ; the bulk of them leave in the 
middle of October, but occasional birds have been seen and heard calling until 
December 23rd. Arrivals noted : May 25, 1905, July 26, 1906, May 22, 1907, 
July 14, 1908, April 20, 1910, May 4, 1911 and July 15, 1912, Last dates 
noted : Dec. 23, 1907. The bulk had gone by Oct. 10, 1907. In 1910 
nearly all Pallid Cuckoos left by Oct. 19 : odd ones seen to December : one 
heard calling at Albany, Dec. 29, 1911. Young birds seem to fledge 
out about Broome Hill in November and December : Dec. 23, 1907. 
Fledgling noted, also Nov. 27, 1910, and two or three more Dec. 6, 1911. 
On Dec. 16, 1902 two fledglings were observed on the Vasse River, 
south-west : one of them was being fed by Melithreptes cMoropsis and the 
other by Ptilotis sonora. About Broome Hill nests of Ptilotis sonora seemed 
to be the favourite ones for these Cuckoos to deposit their eggs.” 
Mr. J. P. Rogers wrote from North-west Australia : “ March 16, 1909. 
Are numerous at present. March 23, 1909, Seven seen to-day. April 24, 
1909. None seen since the 10th of April. May 2, 1909. One seen at thb 
bend of the Ord River, thirty miles S. of WYndham. May 16, 1909. Wild 
Dog, 170 miles S. of Wyndham. None seen since 2nd. May 29, 1909. 
Two seen to-day at Flora Valley Station about 290 miles S. of Wyndham, 
at the headwaters of the Ord River : altitude approximately 900 feet. 
June 10, 1909. Several seen at Mary River about 290 miles S. of Wyndham, 
elevation about 1,100 ft At Marngle Creek these were fairly numerous, 
a few being seen every day, usually in timber near the edge of the plains. 
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