Among the Cuckoos, the largest is a species of “Crow-pheasant” or “Lark-heeled” Cuckoo, Centropus menebiki, a bird of black plumage glossed with dark green, with a large whitish-horn bill and heavy slate-coloured legs and toes.
An allied, but smaller and rarer species, C. bernsteini, was met with near the mouth of the Mimika. It is very similar in plumage to the above, but is easily distinguished by its smaller size, black bill and long, nearly straight hind-claw. Both are almost entirely ground-birds of skulking habits. Several other species of Cuckoo were met with, and among these Cuculus micropterus, the eastern form of the Common Cuckoo, closely resembling our familiar bird. The rarest species obtained was Microdynamis parva, a remarkable little Cuckoo about the size of a Thrush, first described by Count Salvadori in 1875. The origin of the type specimen is uncertain, but it is believed to have been obtained by Beccari in the Moluccas. Subsequently, Dr. H. O. Forbes procured female examples in the Astrolabe Mountains. Mr. Claude Grant obtained an adult male and female which form a valuable addition to the National Collection. The general plumage is brown, but in the male the top of the head and the malar stripe are black, glossed with steel-blue and the cheeks and throat are cinnamon. In both sexes the bill is short, thick and curved. The male has the eye bright red, while in the female it is hazel.
FAMILY CYPSELIDÆ—SWIFTS.
The Swifts, though of especial interest, are not very numerously represented in the collection. The commonest species was that known as the Esculent Swiftlet (Collocalia fuciphaga) which produces the best kind of edible nest.
A very interesting discovery was the existence in New Guinea of the large fork-tailed species Collocalia whiteheadi originally described by myself from the highlands of Luzon, Philippine Islands.
A remarkable Spine-tailed Swift (Chætura novæ-guineæ) is new to the National Collection. It was fairly common on the Mimika River and originally described by Count Salvadori from specimens procured by D’Albertis on the Fly River.
A pair of the magnificent Moustached Swift (Macropteryx mystacea) with a wing expanse of more than two feet were also procured. The plumage of this bird is mostly grey, but the crown, wings, and long deeply-forked tail are black glossed with purplish-blue. The eye-brows and moustache-stripes as well as the scapulars are white, the two former being composed of lengthened, narrow, pointed plumes. The male has a small chestnut spot behind the ear-coverts which is absent in the female. The nesting-habits of this species are very curious, it makes a very small exposed half-saucer-shaped nest of bark and feathers gummed by saliva to a branch or stump barely large enough to contain the single white egg, and ridiculously small in comparison with the size of the bird. When incubating, the greater part of the bird’s body must rest on the branch to which the nest is attached.
FAMILIES CAPRIMULGIDÆ AND PODARGIDÆ—NIGHTJARS AND FROG-MOUTHS.
The common Nightjar of the country found along the shingly banks of the rivers was Caprimulgus macrurus, a widely distributed species. After the ground had been cleared for the base camp at Wakatimi it was visited every evening by a number of Nightjars, which no doubt found such a large open space an admirable hunting-ground and the members of the Expedition derived great pleasure from watching their graceful evolutions. Another very rare Nightjar was Lyncornis papuensis, not previously included in the National Collection. Frog-mouths were represented by the larger species Podargus papuensis and the smaller, P. ocellatus. At some of the stopping places on the river night was made hideous by their mournful cries repeated to distraction on every side, and ending up with a sharp snap.
A single example of the rare Wallace’s Owlet-Nightjar (Ægotheles wallacei) was collected by Mr. G. C. Shortridge on the Wataikwa River. It has a peculiar uniform blackish upper plumage, without any trace of a distinct nuchal collar. No doubt, like its Australian ally, it roosts in holes in trees during the daytime and captures its prey on the wing at night, like the true Nightjars, though the flight is said to be less tortuous.