570 NESTS AND hCGS Of AUSTRALIAN BIKDS. 



and uot generally wider than one inch across) was pushed back to such 

 an extent that the eggs were rendered quite visible. 



"I have now before me ten nests of the Acanthizce and foiu' of 

 Maluruthii former comprising Acantliiza liiieata, A. nana, A. pusilla,, 

 and what at present I beheve to be that of A. reguloides ; the latter, 

 Mahirus cyaneits and M. lamhfrti. 



" Now, having compared the gi-eatly enlarged entrances of those 

 nests from which we have taken Cuckoos eggs with the entrances of 

 those wliicli chd uot contain the egg of a Cuckoo, and which we took 

 as soon as the bird had laid its full number of eggs for a sitting, I can- 

 not but feel convinced more than ever that the eggs of these pai'asites 

 are laid iu the nests and not deposited in any other manner. 



"The average vridth of the entrances of the nests of Acantliiza 

 lineatd, wliich have not been visited by a Cuckoo, is one inch, while 

 those which have contained Cuckoos' eggs vary from two to two-aud- 

 a-half inches. In addition to the uesbs of Acantliiza iJu^iUa, we have 

 known tliis Cuckoo (C . flabeUiformis) deposit its eggs in the nest of 

 A. reyuluide-i (?) and Chthonicola sagittata.'' 



However valuable are Dr. Ramsay's other notes, I must, iu the 

 interests of research, combat his idea that the eggs of Cuckoos 

 are laid in the nests, and not deposited in any other manner. How 

 can the Fan-tailed Cuckoo, a bird about ten inches long, including a 

 tail five inches, enter the small covered or dome-shaped nest of, say, 

 a Tit (Acantliiza), the longest exterior diameter of wluch is only four- 

 and-a-half inches? The side entrance, that hardly admits of one's 

 finger, may be enlarged by the Cuckoo thrusting its head in. 



In my published remarks, read before the Field Natiualists' Club 

 of Victoria, 1883, on oui- Cuckoos, I ventured the opinion that oiu" 

 Cuckoos (particulaiiziug four species), after laying their egg.s some- 

 where, convey them in their bills to the nest of the chosen foster-parent. 

 Since then I noticed an interesting article on " The Architectural Tastes 

 of Birds,'' by M. Oustalet, of France, in wlueh is stated : — 



" The Cuckoo watches the moment when the mother quits the nest, 

 then laying its egg, seizes it by its mandibles, passes it into the throat 

 with the agility of a conjuroi", and fUes to deposit it delicately in the 

 stranger's nest." 



We also have the statement of another eminent ornithologist, Dr. 

 Sharpe, of the British Museum, who says : — 



" Tlie fact of the Cuckoo carrying her egg in her bill, to deposit it 

 in the nest of her \'ictim, is now generally admitted. " 



If such be possible with the European Cuckoo, why not witli our 

 Australian species also? The following note received from Mr. Wm. 

 P. Best, Branxholme, Victoria, is, I tliink, conclusive evidence on the 

 subject as for as this species is concerned : — 



" In the season of 1888, I shot a Fan-tailed Cuckoo. It was almost 

 the first bird I had seen or heard in the season. On dissection it 

 proved a specially interesting specimen, as in its ovary 1 found a nearly 

 perfect egg, and in its gizzard anotiicr ogg. which, though nuich broken, 

 was evidently an egg of the same species. prob:il)ly of the same bird. 

 The season was a late one, and the conclusion I drew was, that the 



