The female differs in having the upper surface mottled with buff and rufous, in having a triangular spot of reddish buff at the extremity of each of the wing-coverts, and the markings of the tail buff instead of white; all which markings may in very old birds give place to a style of colouring similar to the male. The young, independently of the differences pointed out above, has the feet yellowish olive, the soles of the feet yellow; the bill yellowish olive, the corner of the mouth and the tip of the bill being more yellow than the rest of that organ; irides greyish brown. The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. [Illustration: CUCULUS CINERACEUS: _Vig. & Horsf._ _J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._ ] CUCULUS CINERACEUS, _Vig. & Horsf._ Ash-coloured Cuckoo. _Cuculus cineraceus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 298. —— _incertus_, Ib. p. 299, young. —— _variolosus_, Ib. p. 300, very young. _Barred-tailed Cuckoo_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 310? _Cuculus flabelliformis_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxx.?—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. ix. p. 96? _Fan-tailed Cuckoo_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 138. pl. 126?—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 305. pl. lvii.? _Du-laar_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia. _Lesser Cuckoo_ of the Colonists. This is a migratory species, arriving in Van Diemen’s Land in September, and after spending the summer months therein, departing to the northward in January. In the southern parts of the continent of Australia solitary individuals remain throughout the entire winter, as evidenced by my having observed it in South Australia in July: I have never seen individuals from the north coast; I therefore infer that its migratory movements are somewhat restricted; in all probability the 26th degree of latitude may be the extent of its range to the northward. During the summer months, its distribution over the southern portion of the continent may be said to be universal, but withal it is rather a solitary bird and loves to dwell in secluded situations, where but for its loud ringing call, which much resembles its aboriginal name, it would easily escape detection. It flies rather heavily, and on alighting moves the tail up and down for some time; a similar movement of the tail also invariably precedes its taking flight. Like the other species of Cuckoo, it deposits its single egg in the nest of some one or other of the smaller kinds of birds: it is of a perfectly oval form, of a flesh-white sprinkled all over with fine spots of purplish brown, nine or ten lines long by seven and a half lines broad. The stomach is capacious, membranous, and lined with hairs; and the food consists of the larvæ of insects of various kinds. The sexes are alike in plumage, but the female is a trifle smaller than her mate.