404 Transactions.' 



Do many of these cuckoos perish by these httle nests being carried away 

 by the weight of the cuckoo before it can fly ? How soon do they leave the 

 nest ? And have any instances occurred of the actual discovery of the 

 young cuckoo in one of these nests ? The eggs are deposited therein, but 

 are they hatched ; and, if so, what is the result ? Does the cuckoo throw 

 out its mates ? How does it get out of the nest, and when ? How long 

 can the nest support its weight ? 



The movements of the adult cuckoo are quick ; it sometimes twists and 

 turns in a tree like a flash. At other times I have seen it sitting very quiet 

 and perfectly still for a considerable time. The male bird usually selects 

 the topmost spray of the tallest trees for its perch during the time it is 

 giving utterance to its remarkable call. He seldom remains long in one 

 spot, and indulges in a restless jerky motion of his tail. '' In selecting the 

 nest of so early a breeder as the grey warbler as a home for its young it 

 secures certain advantages for the benefit of its offspring which should not 

 be lost sight of (38). At the period of the cuckoo's arrival the warbler has 

 most probably reared its first brood. Everywhere insect life abounds, so 

 that a proper supply of food sufficient for so comparatively large a bird 

 can be obtained by its little foster-parents with less labour and more cer- 

 tainty than could have been secured two months earlier, when several 

 birds commenced their breeding arrangement." 



The trees that the cuckoos are most fond of are the young kowhais, the 

 beautiful light-green feathery leaves forming an effectual concealment for 

 a bird whose plumage is closely approximated in colour. Besides this, 

 the large moth called the kowhai-moth abounds thereon, with many other 

 insects of worth. Another tree cuckoos are fond of is the ngaio, also affected 

 by grey warblers and white-eyes. 



The birds consume an enormous amount of flies, gnats, fruit-slugs, 

 moths, and butterflies ; the capacity of the young is t:"emendous, and the 

 number of trips made by a warbler or fantail in feeding one of these birds 

 is incredible. An adult bird has been seen to chase a trout-fly at the end 

 of a fisherman's line. 



A young bird was sent to me which had been found dead among a 

 number of sparrows and linnets which had been killed with poisoned grain ; 

 but Dr. Benham, who examined its crop for me, found no grain, but a great 

 number of moths, daddy-long-legs, and caterpillars. The bird must, how- 

 ever, have taken some morsel of poisoned food, sufficient to kill it. 



The young bird, even fully fledged, has its head, wings, and back a 

 coppery-red colour: this changes in the adult to the well-known bronzy 

 green. 



The cuckoos, having continued to lay eggs and to deposit them right up to 

 the end of January, begin in February to prepare for their return migration. 

 By this time they have moulted, and are freshly equipped with plumage. 

 They have been supplementing their insect food, which they find in abund- 

 ance on our fruit trees, by acquiring a fondness for fruit. Seeing mockers 

 and white-eyes taking fruit, and perhaps themselves pecking at flies or 

 caterpillars on the fruit and obtaining an astonishing supply of some new 

 sweet substance, they are now becoming fruit-eaters like many other of 

 our insect-feeders. Buller (39) scouted my report of a wood-pigeon feeding 

 a young koekoea, as he said a pigeon, being berry-feeding, would know 

 nothing of the insect-feeding necessary for the cuckoo. Yet here we have 

 an instance of the beginning of a complete change of habit, due to change 

 of environment. It is probable that the bird will soon become accustomed 



