FAN-TAILED CUCKOO. 
Gucvlus ritbricatus alhani Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 12, 1912 : Albany, West 
Australia ; id., Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 293, 1912. 
Cacomantis rubricatus Mathews, List Birds Austr., p. 155, 1913. 
Cacomantis rubricatus rubricatus Mathews, ib. 
Cacomantis rubricatus athertoni Mathews, ib. 
Cacomantis rubricatus alhani Mathews, ib. 
Distribution. Australia, except North-west and Northern Territory ; Tasmania. 
Adult male. Greneral colour above slate-grey including the crown of the head, ear-cdverts, 
cheeks, back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts, the lateral upper tail-coverts marked 
with white on the outer webs ; upper wing-coverts and flight-quills bronze-brown 
glossed with bottle-green and margined with rufous on the major coverts and inner 
secondaries, outer edge of wing white, some of the primary and secondary quills 
more or less white on the basal portion of the inner webs ; tail-feathers blue-black 
tipped and notched with white on both webs, the next pair similar, but the white 
indentations increased in extent and a longitudinal white mark on the shaft near the 
tip, the following pair have the white somewhat increased and three white marks, 
of irregular shape, on the shaft of the apical portion, the penultimate pair have the 
white pattern increased and four white marks on the shaft and the one nearest the tip 
is merged into the notch on the inner-web forming an irregular bar, on the outer pair 
there are six white bars and the white indentations on the outer web are confined to the 
margins only ; base of fore-head and chin pale ash-grey ; under-surface of body for the 
most part cinnamon-rufous, paler on the lower flanks where the feathers are mottled 
with grey which become whitish at the tips ; under tail-coverts, axillaries, and under 
wing-coverts cinnamon-buff, some of the last more or less barred with grey ; under- 
surface of quills pale brown with white on some of the inner edges ; lower aspect of 
tail dark brown barred, notched, and tipped with white. Eyes brown ; orbits 
gamboge ; feet and tarsus yellow ; bill dark purple with the base yellow. Total 
length 260 mm. ; cuhnen 16, wing 138, tail 126, tarsus 17. Figured. Collected 
at Albany, South-west Australia, on the 15th of May, 1907. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Immature. General colour above russet-brown including the head, back, and upper wdng- 
coverts, the feathers having dark centres gives a more or less barred or scalloped 
appearance ; edge of wing white ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and flight-quills 
bronze-brown, some of the quills slightly edged w ith russet-brown and more broadly 
with white on the inner- webs ; tail dark bronze-brown becoming paler on the lateral 
feathers, notched and margined with rufous, which breaks into bars on the outer 
feathers, where the rufous is very pale and inclining to white ; sides of face, throat, 
fore-neck, and sides of neck pale rufous with white and dusky-brown bars to the 
feathers ; remainder of the under-surface of the body dusky-brown, the feathers 
barred and tipped with dull white, becoming much paler on the vent and lower 
flanks ; under tail-coverts and under wing-coverts washed with pale buff ; under- 
surface of quills pale brown with white on the inner-webs — chiefly towards the base ; 
lower aspect of tail dark brown on the central feathers, becoming paler on the outer 
ones, notched on the middle feathers and barred with buff or white on the lateral ones. 
Figured. Collected at Olinda, in Victoria, on 1st of December, 1912. 
Nestling. Barred with buff and dark brown above and white and dark brown below. Birds 
able to fly are also marked like this above, but darker. The under-surface is also 
buff and dark brown instead of white and dark brown. 
Egg. Ground-colour dull whitish. Heavily coloured all over with small spots of purplish- 
brown, with a more or less defined zone at the larger end. 20 to 23 mm. by 14 to 15. 
Breeding-season. August to December. 
VOL. vn. 
313 
