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Show 1869.] MR. E. P. RAAMSAY ON AUSTRALIAN CUCKOOS. 359 plaited, the top and second plait semibifurcated, pure white, shining and porcellanous, as is also the interior of the mouth and the under part of the shell; aperture elongated, lip simple, not thickened; of a dull whitish-brown colour above. Length 3 inches, breadth 1|, height 1T\. Hab. Banks's Straits. This beautiful species, of which I have two specimens in m y cabinet, is at once distinguished from any other species by its dense, white, shining, porcellanous interior and under surface. DESCEIPTION OF PLATE XXVI. Figs. 1,1«. Cyprcsa thatcheri, p. 358. Fig. 3. Voluta sclateri, p. 358. 2a, 2b. Voluta harfordi, p. 358. 4. Haliotis hargravesi*, p. 49. 9. S o m e further Remarks on the Cuckoos found in the Neighbourhood of Sydney, and their Foster-parents. By E . P. R A M S A Y , C.M.Z.S. (Plate XXVII.) In some former remarks on the Cuckoos found in the neighbourhood of Sydney (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 460), it will be remembered that the species recently termed by Mr. Gould Lamprococcyx plagosus and L. basalis (Gould's Handb. B. Austr. i. pp. 623, 626) were regarded as one species under the name of Chalcites lucidus (Gould's Birds of Austr. iv. pl. 89), and that I described their eggs as two varieties of the egg of the same species. At that time m y remarks were so far correct. Now, however, as most ornithologists agree in considering L. plagosus and L. basalis distinct species (and L. lucidus from N e w Zealand as a third), it will be necessary to make a few remarks on the subject. M y reasons for treating L. plagosus and L. basalis as varieties of the same species were manifold. The young on leaving the nest are scarcely (if at all) to be distinguished from one another ; their notes are for the most part exactly alike; the colouring and marking of the eggs are not constantly different; and, lastly, the plumage of one is merely a shade lighter or darker than that of the other. The only differences of any value are the thinness of the bill in L. basalis, and the much deeper tint and greater extent of the rufous on the second and third outer tail-feathers; for it must be remembered, although seemingly overlooked by Mr. Gould, that the two tail-feathers next to the outer one on either side are distinctly marked with rufous in L. plagosus. But, however slight the differences between these two species may be, either in the eggs, the young on leaving the nest, or in the fully adult birds, there is one fact that sets the question at rest, viz. that the young, about three months old, have the same characteristic * For the description of this shell see Dr. Cox's previous paper, antea page 49. |