116 Transactions. — Zoology. 



the fact that most of the smaller birds will minister to any 

 unfortunate fledgling which by plaintive piping shows signs 

 of hunger. During the months of October and November it 

 is no uncommon sight to see the smaller Australian birds 

 feeding the young of the Cuckoos. Even the little Acanthizce. 

 which are seldom, if ever, the foster-parents of the PalHd 

 Cuckoo, join in supplying the wants, which are made known 

 by the continual peevish cry, which stops only while feeding 

 is going on or when the appetite is fully appeased. So with 

 the New Zealand birds : the Mocker, the Tui, the Warbler, 

 the Tomtit, the Eobin, the Brown Creeper, the Canary, the 

 White-eye, and the imported House-sparrow are all known to 

 feed the Cuckoo bantlings, not because they are purely duped, 

 but very often from a true philornithic spirit(19). There is no 

 doubt that at times the parent Cuckoos exercise a sort of 

 general supervision over their young ones, to watch, as it 

 were, in order to see if they are well tended, and at times to 

 actually assist in feeding the youngsters. This is at variance 

 with what we are told by Professor Newton, who says, '• The 

 assertion that the Cuckoo herself takes any interest in the 

 egg that she has foisted on her victim, or of its product, there 

 is no evidence worth a moment's attention "(14). To show 

 that there is some evidence that the parent bird does occa- 

 sionally take interest in the welfare of the product of the egg 

 we need only refer to Miss Bell's report of the Kermadec 

 Cuckoos, and to Mr. Archibald Campbell's book, which men- 

 tions several instances: "Channel-bill Cuckoos make their 

 appearance just before or during floods, laying principally in 

 Crow's nests. Later on, or prior to leaving, the old Channel- 

 bills go round and gather up their young, when some hard 

 fighting between the Channel -bills and the Crows usually 

 ensues "(15). The young Koel, or Flinders Cuckoo, was 

 found in the nest of the Friar-bird near Chinchilla, Queens- 

 land. Mr. Broadbent watched the young Cuckoo coming 

 out and the old Friar -birds feed it. The adult Koel used 

 to come about the nest at night, remain until dawn, and 

 then fly away till next night(16). Miss Fletcher, writing 

 to the Austra< asian , 30th May, 1896, says, " I myself have 

 seen a full-grown Pallid Cuckoo feeding a young one of the 

 same species. The young one when flushed flew feebly, 

 and I judged it had only recently left the foster-parents' 

 nest "(17). Mr. Campbell as-ks, " Do Cuckoos sometimes 

 assist the foster-parents in fee<iing their young, or had these 

 particular youngsters lost their foster-parents?" He further 

 adds, " I am inclined to believe that many birds by instinct 

 feed young Cuckoos, whether they be the rightful foster- 

 parents or not. Only last season Master Bardwell watched 

 a young Cuckoo, either a Pallid or a Fantail, being fed, 



