14 FLEAS, FLUKES AND CUCKOOS 



unmolested. They could easily kill the naked and defenceless young 

 when they hatch but, mysteriously enough, these are left unscathed. It 

 is obvious that the parrakeets benefit from the association. The termites 

 are irascible and their bite very painful. It is unlikely that egg thieves 

 would brave their fury in order to rob the parrakeet's nest. Moreover, 

 the termitary itself is hard and durable and also exceedingly warm. 

 Occasionally the adult birds even make a meal off their hosts. It is 

 certainly difficult to understand why the insects tolerate the presence of 

 these tiresome intruders. 



There are also several species of woodpeckers, kingfishers and 

 parrots, in both the African and oriental regions, which are obligate 

 commensals of vicious ants and, like the parakeet, build, lay and rear 

 their young in the heart of the ants' nests. In one or two instances it is 

 known for certain that the woodpeckers habitually feed on the ants 

 concerned. The species of ants found in Britain do not lend themselves 

 to this type of association as they are not builders of carton nests. In 

 Sweden, however, Durango has seen three nests of the long-tailed tit 

 placed in close proximity to ant-hills of Formica rufa. On one nest the 

 wood-ants were swarming all over the outside. He observed that 

 squirrels avoided the areas where the ants occurred in large numbers. 

 This insect is a common species over a considerable area in Britain, and 

 where it occurs it is worth while keeping a sharp look out for incipient 

 associations between it and breeding birds — not necessarily the long- 

 tailed tit. It is generally species constructing domed nests which 

 establish such relationships with noxious insects, and the wren is there- 

 fore a bird to watch in this respect. The question of birds nesting 

 near bees and wasps in this country is considered in the following 

 chapter. 



In various parts of the world small birds habitually build in close 

 proximity to some bigger bird, generally a bird of prey. Thus, for 

 example, the white wagtail regularly inhabits the nests of the osprey 

 and white-tailed sea-eagle on the coasts of Sweden and Finland. The 

 eyries of the prairie-falcon {Falco mexicanus) are frequently surrounded 

 by the clustered nests of cliff-swallows [Petrochelidon pyrrhonata). In 

 Africa some species of weaver-birds make a practice of grouping their 

 nests near that of an eagle, vulture or buzzard. A colony of nests of the 

 slender-billed weavers ( Teteropsis pelzelni) may be found actually hang- 

 ing from the sticks on the underside of a kite's nest. Among British birds 

 a rare vagrant, the red-breasted goose, and a winter visitor, the barnacle- 



