ORIGMA. 315 



however, a solitary instance of Cacomantis flabclliformis utilizing the nest of this cave-hatmtino' 

 species, was proved by my frequently ' : _ . . ^ " :":iis Cuckoo iu the nests of Origma 



rubrkata. 



Nidification, in which both sexes ; , - commences in Augiir: _: r_r,y m. September, 

 and the nest is usually completed in fifteen to eighteen days. These birds are exceedingly 

 wary during nest-buUding when an intruder ventures near, slipping quietly behind large 

 boulder- irr i r n^ rave, or through some narrow entrance at the back if there is one sufficiently 

 large (T lit them. In some instances, however, four and even five weeks elapse 



before a nest was completed. On the other hand, if a pair of birds have their nest taken, 

 another is usuall}- built within ten or twelve days. A nest found aV . ive 



at Middle Harbour on the 12th August, 1900, only contained three . _ js 



on the 7th Six days later one of the birds flew out of an adjoining recess as I 



crawled into 11 -:i\\- down on my hands and knees. Fifteen feet from the entrance I found the 

 nest about half-built, and on the 28th October flushed the female as she sat on three slightly 

 incubated eggs. This nest was more slovenly built, the entrance oval and very large, and the 

 inside of lower portion containing the eggs was only one inch and a half in depth. Only three 

 weeks had elapsed since taking the previous set of eggs from this pair of birds. On the ist 

 September of the following year, I found the nest constructed in its old position, and took from 

 it three fresh eggs of the Rock Warbler on the 14th September, and three weeks later, on the 

 6th October, an e^g of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo. On the same date I flushed the female Rock 

 Warbler from a iiest on the opposite side of the cave, containing two of her eggs and one 

 of the Fan : 



A nest foimd in the same locaJity, on the 7th August, contained, on the ist October, 

 a young Fan-tailed Cuckoo that had just emerged from the sheLL WMle sitting under the 

 rock to which this nest was attached, a large Water Lizard ( Physigiiathus leseuri) approached, 

 evidently intent on ha\Tng a meal, but I managed to disable him with a stick. On pre\-ious 

 occasions I had disturbed one of these reptiles feasting on the eggs belonging to two nests 

 of this same pair of birds. WTnat with the Fan-tailed Cuckoo depositing its egg and leaving 

 it to be hatched in the nest of the Rock Warbler, and the Water Lizards eating so many of 

 their eggs, it is a wonder they are not exterminated in this district. I visited the above 

 nest again on the 6th October, and was surprised to find it torn open and lying on the 

 floor of the cave, but the young Cuckoo buried in the lining of the nest alive and well. 

 It had been probably pulled down by a dog, for there were the paw-marks of one on the 

 sandy floor of the cave. With the aid of some long thin strips of green bark and skewers 

 formed of twigs, I managed to get it somewhat into its original shape and attached it again to 

 the roof. In the meantime both Rock Warblers were flying or running about the cave, and 

 directly the nest was placed in position, one with a small moth in its bill fed the young Cuckoo 

 and remained in possession of the nest, a yard away from the rock on which I was sitting. 

 Precisely twelve months afterwards to date, on the 6th October, 1901, I foimd the nest of this 

 pair of birds in a cave about fifty yards away. The female was again sitting on a young 

 Fan-tailed Cuckoo, about two days old, while beneath the nest were two recently broke: 

 of the Rock Warbler, containing almost matured voung birds. 



Another nest, the last ^-isited that season, was bmlt in a cave behind a waterfeJl in a 

 gully near Middle Harbour, and contained two fresh eggs of the Rock Warbler and one egg of 

 the Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Of five Rock Warblers' nests examined within a fortnight endii^ 

 I2th October, 1901, four contained an egg each of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo in addition to two 

 eggs of the rightful owner, and the fifth the young Cuckoo jnst referred to. As is the general 

 rule, in every instance where an egg of a Cuckoo was deposited, those nests contained one 

 egg less than the usual number laid bv the Rock Warbler for a sitting — that "s. rr^? instead of 



