PLATE II. CACOMi XTIS F LA B ELL. FORM IS. FAN-TAILED CUCKOO. Genus: Cacomantis. TIlHIS is the "Doo-Laar" of the aborigines, and to those who have heard its strange call, half -■L ringing and half harsh, the name will recall the cry of the strange solitary bird. It frequents, generally, patches of scrub or thick timber, and is so shy that unless special search is made for it, it is seldom seen. The food consists, as with most of the other Cuckoos, of larva) and insects: in its general habits also it resembles other members of the tribe. Us flight is straight and somewhat heavy : on alisrhtincj it waves its broad tail slowly up and down several times, and also woes through this movement before taking wing. This species is migratory ; it spends the summer in Tasmania, returning to Australia in January and February. The single egg is deposited in the nest of some other bird, nearly always in that of a much smaller variety : the young Cuckoo has the same tyrannical way of treading upon and often throwing out the proper tenants of the nest. The egg is a true oval, pale pink in colour, and spotted finely with purplish-brown : it is nine lines long hy seven and a half broad. The female is somewhat smaller than the male, but the colouring of the sexes is prdcisely similar. Head and upper surfaces, dark grey : tail, a deeper shade, with a tinge of brown, the leathers having serrated markings of white at the edge, which increase in breadth towards the point ; wings, brown, tinged with green: chin, grey; under surfaces, rusty brown, deeper on the chest; bill, blaek, with a flesh-coloured strip at the base of the lower mandible ; irides, brown : eyelash, bright yellow : feet, olive given. Habitats: Central and Southern Australia. Tasmania. C ACO M A N T I S I N" S P E R A T US t Gould.) BRUSH (TCKno. Genus: Cacomantis. K KN apart from the foregoing example, this variety might be easily confounded with it. However, a glance at the two when side by side shows a considerable variation in size and contour, as well as a distinct difference in the tail, that of the present species being more rounded and differently marked. It is much rarer than the C. Flabellijbrmis, but so far a.-- is known its habits are similar. As the name indicates, it frequents scrub and thickly timbered patches.
PLATE III. GENUS SITTELLA (Swainson). THESE birds resemble in many respects the Nuthatches of Europe and India, but differ from them in their mode of nidification, building nests on the branches of trees instead of incubating in holes in the trunks. SITTELLA PILE ATA (Gould). BLACK-CAPPED SITTELLA. ■ ri^HE range of this Sittella extends over the greater part of South and Western Australia, where it is J- to be met with in flocks from ten to thirty in number. It is exceedingly shy, and when not flying swiftly from tree to tree, generally remains on the topmost branches. Gilbert, when in Western Australia, made the following note concerning the Sittella Pileata :— " An extremely active bird, running up and down the trunks and branches of the trees with the utmost rapidity, always in families of from ten to twenty in number. It utters a weak, piping note while on the wing, and occasionally while running up and down the trees. Its flight, which is generally performed in rather rapid, undulating starts, is of short duration." The breeding time is in September. The nest is formed of very small, thin strips of bark joined together by means of cobweb, which is laid on so thickly as to almost cover it. The same substance is. used to fasten the structure in its place, usually the highest and most slender fork of an acacia, where its diminutive size and resemblance in colour to the tree render it very difficult of detection. The eggs, three in number, are " of a whitish colour, with circular green spots regularly distributed over the whole surface." The male has the forehead, stripe over the e. r e, throat, breast and centre of the abdomen, white ; crown of the head, black ; ear-coverts, back of the neck and back, brownish-grey ; rump, white ; tail, black, the centre feathers slightly and the outer ones largely tipped with white ; wings, blackish-brown, with a large patch of rufous in the centre, interrupted by the blackish-brown margins of some of the secondaries ; Hanks and vent, grey ; bill, yellow at the base, black at the tip ; feet, yellow. The female is somewhat darker on the upper surface, and has the whole of the upper part of the head deep black. Total length, inches ; bill, § inch ; wing, 3^ inches ; tail, If inch ; tarsi, f inch. Habitat : South and Western Australia.