BIRDS OF THE BRUSHES AND BIG SCRUBS 
23 
PLATE IV 
BIRDS OF THE BRUSHES AND BIG SCRUBS 
1. White-tailed Kingfisher Tanysiptera sylvia Gould 
Tan-y-sip'-tcr-a —Gk, tanysipteros, long-feathered: syl'-vi-a —N.L., sylvia, 
woodland bird. 
Distribution. —Northern Queensland; also occurs in New Guinea. 
Notes .—A spring and summer migrant to the coastal districts; in¬ 
habits the dense brushes of those areas. Usually in pairs; arrives in No¬ 
vember and departs in February or March, sometimes as late as May. Call- 
note, a persistent trilling, not unlike that of the Sacred Kingfisher. Food: 
insects and small reptiles. 
Nest. —In a hole in a termites' (white ants) nest in a tree or on the 
ground. 
Eggs -—Three to four, pure white. Breeding-season: November to 
January. 
2. Brush Cuckoo Cacomantis pyrrhophanus Vieillot 
Cac-o-mari-tis —Gk, cacos, bad; Gk, mantis , prophet: pyr-rho-phd-nus — 
Gk, pyrrhos , fire-coloured; Gk, phanos , bright. 
Distribution. —Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Northern 
Territory, and north-western Australia; also occurs in the Molucca Is¬ 
lands, Timor, and New Guinea. 
Notes. —Also called Square-tailed Cuckoo; a migrant, arriving in New 
South Wales and Victoria in October and departing during February or 
March. Usually singly; inhabits the brushes and dense scrubs; similar 
in habits to the Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Food: insects of various kinds, especi¬ 
ally hairy caterpillars. 
Parasitic. —Species that build open, cup-shaped nests are usually 
selected as foster-parents; over thirty species have been recorded as hosts 
of this Cuckoo. 
Egg. —White, with a band round the larger end, blotched and spotted 
with faint purplish-brown and lavender markings. Breeding-season: Oc¬ 
tober to January. 
3. Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons Latham 
Rhip-id-ur-a —Gk, r hip is, rkipidos, fan; Gk, ura (oura ), tail: ru -fi-frons 
—L., rufus, red; L., frons, forehead. 
Distribution. —North-western and northern Australia, and eastern 
Australia (from Cape York to Victoria). 
