OACOMANTIS. 
245 
lineata, A. nana, A. pusilla, and A. reguloides; the latter, Malurus 
cyaneus, and M. lamberti. Now, having compared the greatly 
enlarged entrances of those nests from which we have taken 
Cuckoo’s eggs with the entrances of those which did not contain 
the egg of a Cuckoo, and which wo took as soon as the bird had 
laid its full number of eggs for a sitting, I cannot but feel convinced 
more than ever that the eggs of these parasites are laid in the 
nests, and not deposited in any other manner. The average width 
of the entrances of the nests of Acanthiza lineata which have not 
been visited by a Cuckoo is one inch, while those which have 
contained Cuckoo’s eggs vary from two to two inches and a-half. 
In addition to the nests of Acanthiza pusilla, we have known this 
Cuckoo (C. Jlabelliformis) deposit its eggs in the nest of A. 
reguloides and Chthonicola minima. How great is the difference 
between the Cuckoo’s eggs and those of this last bird (Chthonicola 
minima), which are of a bright reddish-chocolate! The eggs of 
Cacomanlis Jlabelliformis are from ten to ten lines and a-half in 
length by seven to seven lines and a-half in breadth. The ground 
colour is a' delicate white, spotted and dotted with wood-brown, 
deep brownish-lilac, and faint lilac dots, which appear beneath the 
surface. Some specimens are faintly sprinkled all over, and the 
dots have a washed-out appearance; others are marked more 
strongly, and in these the markings formed are in a distinct zone 
at the larger end, which is sometimes broken by a batch of very 
deep coloured dots.” (Ramsay, P.Z.S., 1865, p. 463.) 
Two eggs of this species taken from the nests of Acanthiza 
pusilla and Chthonicola minima, measures as follows :—length (A) 
0'88 x 06 inch ; (B) 083 x 06 inch. 
JIab. Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port 
Denison, Wide Bay District, Dawson River, Richmond and 
Clarence Rivers Districts, New South Wales, Interior, Victoria 
and South Australia, Tasmania, West and South-west Australia 
{Ramsay!) 
