BROAD-BTLLED BRONZE CUCKOO. 
and knew the bird well, and had, in fact, for years noted the date of its arrival^ 
writing from Perth, Western Australia, says that “ the bird was very common 
there in December, 1908, especially on the DarUng Ranges on the west coast.” 
All the preceding were more or less inaccurate, so that the conclusions 
arrived at by Fulton are consequently unreliable. He was quite ignorant of 
the systematics of the species and was dependent upon others in like case. 
Fulton concluded : “ It is much more likely that the birds come from a large 
continent hke New Guinea than from some scattered islands in the Pacific ; 
and the fact that the bird has Australian range before mentioned entirely 
disposes of the idea that New Caledonia is its wintering-place. New Caledonia 
may be a stopping-place, but there is no doubt in my mind that New Guinea 
wiU be found their home, and that the two land-bridges — one down through 
New Caledonia, Kermadecs, Norfolk Island to New Zealand and the Chathams ; 
the other down northern and eastern Australia to Tasmania — satisfactorily 
account for their presence in Australia and New Zealand. It is quite possible 
that the Australian individuals are stragglers who have been blown a little to 
the west at the time of starting from New Guinea, have struck the coast of 
AustraUa, and have come straight on down. Cape York Peninsula, instead 
of winging their waj^ on towards New Caledonia.” The drawback to this 
hypothesis is the fact that the bird has not yet been met with in New 
Guinea, nor even New Caledonia, while, as I stated, it is questionable whether 
the New Zealand Cuckoo has occurred in Australia. 
Fulton then continued : “ Supposing these Cuckoos all start at about the 
same time, the strongest birds would obtain a lead bj^ the stream of birds tailing 
out on a journey of this length, and the males, on arrival, would be comparatively 
quiet until the arrival of the females. . . . The birds come down from the 
north-west, and strike the coast-line in great numbers, for evidence is forth- 
coming that they are heard almost as early in the south of Otago as in the north 
of Auckland, and the dates on which they are stated as being seen and heard 
throughout the islands do not connect or coincide in a manner sufficient to 
prove to us that the birds reach the far north first and gradually work south, 
though this is, of course, possible. They have been heard as early as 
Sept. 7 in North Taranaki, and Sept. 15 in Otago.” As most of Fulton’s coli- 
clusions are based on the assumption of the New Zealand Cuckoo migrating 
from New Guinea they need not be further criticised. 
In the Austral Av. Bee., Vol. I., 1912, I wrote upon this subject, pointing 
out (p. 15) : Its winter quarters are not yet known.” “ At the present time 
the wintering of C. lucidus is one of the puzzles of Australasian ornithology.” 
In the same place (p. 16) I described the New Caledonian Cuckoo as a 
new species quite distinct from the Australian C. plagosus or the Neozelanic 
351 
