114 Trafisactions. — Zoology. 



for support. This view was suggested by the fact that he 

 once shot an adult female of this species in which the under- 

 parts were quite denuded of feathers, as though the bird had 

 been long incubating(4). In addition to this the strange fact 

 that birds of many different species had been seen to feed 

 cuckoos(5) gave him the idea that the true parent hatched the 

 egg, and then left the chick to the " bird world in general " for 

 its support and maintenance. 



It is reported of the Kermadec Islands that a resident, 

 thoroughly familiar with the birds there, and a reliable 

 observer, has frequently seen the old Cuckoos feeding their 

 young, and considers that they build their own nest, and bring 

 up their young themselves(6). It is not, however, stated 

 whether this nest-building is mere surmise or gathered from 

 actual observation. It is quite possible that an occasional 

 Cuckoo may, under the influence of atavism, actually build a 

 nest and hatch an egg or eggs. An instance is recorded of 

 the Great Spotted Cuckoo of Europe having been said to have 

 bv;ilt a nest and hatched its young ; but all ornithologists of 

 the time discredited the accuracy of the observer, and said 

 that it was a manifest error(7). 



In Australia we find Cuckoos, almost without exception, 

 depositing their eggs in the nests of other birds. The 

 Channel-bill [Scythrops nova-Jiollandia) lays her egg in the 

 open nests of the Crow, Sparrow-hawk, (8) Black-backed 

 Magpie, and Pied Crow-Shrike; and the Koel {Eudynamis 

 cyanocephala) in the nests of the different Friar-birds and 

 Orioles, all open-nested birds ; the Pallid Cuckoo also lays in 

 similar open or cup-shaped uests(9). Nearly all the other 

 Australian Cuckoos, including several large ones, and three 

 of the four Bronze Cuckoos, carefully select dome-shaped or 

 covered-in nests for the home of their young(lO). Now, the 

 question arises. How are these eggs placed in their respective 

 uests? Dr. Eamsay asserts that they are laid in the nests, 

 and not deposited in any other manner, for he says that the 

 average width of the entrances of the nests of the Acanthizw 

 which have not been visited by the Cuckoo is 1 in. ; while 

 those which have contained Cuckoos' eggs vary from 2 in. to 

 2^ in. (11). Mr. Archibald Campbell is of the contrary 

 opinion, asking, " How can the Fantail Cuckoo, a bird about 

 10 in. long, including a tail 5 in., enter the small, covered, 

 dome-shaped nest of a Tit, Acanthizce species, the longest 

 exterior diameter of which is only 4|in.?" The side 

 entrance that hardly admits of one's finger may be enlarged 

 by the Cuckoo thrusting its head in (12). Dr. Brehm gives us 

 an account of the egg of the European Cuckoo, which was 

 deposited in the nest of the Water-wagtail. The hole leading 

 to the nest was large enough for the passage of the Wagtail, 



