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THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
mark of black and white also occurs on the tips of the three other lateral 
feathers. In some individuals (probably immature) the feathers of the 
scapulars are indistinctly barred near the shoulder with the bronzy-green and 
buff seen in some of the extra- Australian species of the genus, but which I 
have not observed to exist in any other examples from that country. It 
would not have been necessary to give such minute details respecting this 
little Cuckoo, were it not most difficult to diagnose the members of this genus 
of parasitic birds, respecting which we have much to learn, particularly 
with regard to the colouring of their eggs, which are frequently totally different 
from each other, and from those of the Malurif Acanthizce and other birds 
in whose nests they are deposited. The young, too, are most puzzling ; for 
they do not appear to follow the law which obtains in the young of the true 
Cuckoos (genus Cuculus) and, instead of being strongly barred hke them they 
are coloured uniformly, the outer tail-feathers only being barred with black 
and white.” 
Macgillivray {Emu, Vol. XIII., p. 163, 1914), wrote : “ This, the most 
numerous of the small Cuckoos at Cape York, is easily recognised in the flesh by 
its bright scarlet irides and eyelids. It frequents for the most part the open 
forest and mangroves, though occasionally met with in the scrub. It was 
also noted on Bushy Island, near Cairncross Island, and on the Sir Charles 
Hardy group, in June and July, and was prevalent throughout the summer 
and autumn on the mainland. The usual foster-parents are the Gerygones, 
G. personata dund. G. magnirostris. On one occasion Mr. McLennan saw one 
of these Cuckoos following a pair of G. magnirostris in the mangroves, where 
the latter species usually nests. This attention was resented by the Gerygones 
who, after repeated assaults on the Cuckoo, succeeded in driving it away. 
In an adult male the soft parts are : Irides scarlet, eyehds bright scarlet, 
bill brownish-black, legs dark ohve-brown. In a less mature bird the irides 
were pinkish-brown. Any eggs of a dark chocolate colour taken from nests 
of Gerygone personata or G. magnirostris are sure to be those of this bird.” 
In 1912 I concluded : “ C. russatus Gould was described from Cape York, 
and I have examined three of Gould’s specimens from that locahty, marked 
as types, in the British Museum. These cannot be confused with C. minutillus 
in any way, inasmuch as they belong to the hasalis group, while C. minutillus 
is referable to the lucidus group. There is no russet on the tail of C. minutillus 
or the so-called G. malayanus, whereas C. russatus has every feather very russet, 
even more pronounced than in the tail of C. hasalis. Shelley s reference of 
C. russatus to C. poscilurus Gray was certainly near the mark, as the Cape 
York birds agree in the main with that species. They differ, however, in their 
lighter upper coloration and in the under-surface having less barring, and 
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