Fulton. — The Long-tailed Cuckoo. 121 



colour, beautifully speckled all over and considerably larger 

 than that of the Tomtit. I have now a strong suspicion that 

 the nest did belong to the Tomtit, and that the egg had been 

 deposited in it bj" the Kohoperoa. I have for some years cor- 

 responded v^ith Boss Bros, who have until lately been work- 

 ing on the Te Anau-Milford Sound route. The Messrs. 

 Eoss are keen naturalists, and were always willing to give 

 assistance to tourists interested in the flora or avifauna of 

 their district. I am glad to make mention here that these 

 gentlemen were always determined that no native birds 

 should be killed on or near the track save in case of absolute 

 necessity for food. I trust that the new guides will act 

 similarly. In February of last year I received a letter from 

 Mr. Donald Ross giving an account of a nest and eggs found 

 on the track, and sent to me by same post. It was supposed 

 by those who found it to belong to the Fern-bird, or Utick 

 iS'phenceacus rufescens), and the strange egg in it to the 

 Grey Cuckoo(25). Mr. John Ross, who is well knowm to 

 tlie scientific world of New^ Zealand as the fortunate finder 

 of the latest specimen of Notornis hochstetteri, wrote as 

 follows: "The nest was found just opposite Mid-camp Hut, 

 in a small fern-bush, not fern-tree. It was underneath the 

 leaves and very hard to find, as you had to lift up the leaves 

 before you could see it. There were four eggs in the nest, 

 three small and one large one, and they were quite fresh. 

 'J'here were several Long-tailed Cuckoos about, and they 

 seemed much annoyed when the boys came on the nest, and 

 kept singing out a good deal all the time they were about 

 it "(26). The nest on examination proves to be that of the 

 Tomtii {My iomoira macrocephala) , and contains three Tomtit's 

 eggs and one strange one. It is round in shape, and mea- 

 sures Gin. in diameter and Sin. in depth. The cavity is 2 in. 

 in diameter and l^in. in depth. It is composed of the 

 ordinary fine bush moss, interwoven with shreds of fine ribbon- 

 wood-bark, and ornamented on the outside with pieces of dry 

 white lichen and leaves of the black-birch. It is lined with 

 strips or shreds of ribbonwood-fibre and a minute quantity 

 of wool. The eggs of the nest-builder are ovoid o-conical in 

 shape and of a cream -colour uniformly speckled all over 

 with greyish-brown, very similar to the colour and marking 

 of the egg of the Common Lark {Anthus novcR-zealanclia. 

 The three in this nest are slightly smaller than the specimens 

 of the Tomtit's eggs which I have, but the egg of this little 

 bird is very variable. These measure 0-75 in. in length and 

 0'55in. in breadth. That which I think is undoubtedly the 

 egg of the Kohopei'oa, for I can refer it to no other species, is 

 white with purplish-brown speckles, becoming thicker and 

 darker at the larger end. It is something like that of the 



