N£StS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 581 



Sir Walter Buller proceeds to remark : — " Its cry is a remarkable 

 one, as the bii-d appears to be endowed wth a peculiar kind of ven- 

 triloquism. It consists of eight or ten long silveiy notes, quickly 

 repeated. Tiie first of these appears to come from a considerable dis- 

 tance ; each successive one brings the voice nearer, till it issues from 

 the spot where the perfoniier is actually perched, perhaps only a few 

 yai-ds off. It generally winds up with a confused strain of joyous notes, 

 accompanied by a stretching and quivering of the wings, expressive, 

 it would seem, of the liighest ecstasy. The ciy of the yoimg birds is 



easily distinguished, being very weak and plaintive As it 



is usual to fkid the Cuckoo's egg associated with those of the Grey 

 Warbler, we may reasonably infer that the visitor simply deposits its 

 egg for incubation, without displacing the existing ones. But the 

 young Cuckoo is generally found to be the sole tenant of the nest ; 

 and the following circumstance, related to me by the Rev. R. Taylor, 

 sufficiently proves that the intruder ejects the rightful occupants, and 

 takes entire possession. He discovered the nest of a Grey Warbler 

 in liis garden shrubbery, containing several eggs, and among them a 

 larger one, which he con-ectly assigned to the Sliining Cuckoo. In due 

 time the eggs were hatched ; but, after the lapse of a day or two, the 

 young Cuckoo was the sole tenant of the nest, and the dead bodies of 

 the others were found lying on the ground below. At length the 

 usurper left the nest, and for many days after both of the foster-parents 

 were incessantly on the wing, from morning till night, catering for the 

 inordinate appetite of their charge, whose constant piping cry served 

 only to stimulate their activity." 



The following interesting data respecting the early history of the 

 Broad-billed Bronze Cuckoo were fviniished to Sir Walter Buller by a 

 con-espondent, Mr. W. W. Smith, of Oamaru. On the 7th October, 

 a Warbler's (Qerygone) nest was found, containing foiu: eggs and one 

 of the Cuckoo. 21st. — ^The batch still imhatched. 24th.- — Two young 

 were hatched ; one egg upon the groimd contained chick, cold and 

 dead. 25th.- — Tkree young in nest. 26th, — Cuckoo's eg^ hatched. 

 30th. — One dead chick foimd on the ground ; young Cuckoo gi'owing 

 rapidly, nearly large enough to fill the nest itself. 2nd November. — 

 One of the yoimg Warblers dead in the nest. 6th.— Yotmg Cuckoo 

 lying with its head on the opening of nest, having taken full possession, 

 its remaining companion being underneath it, having apparently died 

 from starvation. 8th. — Young Cuckoo almost ready to leave its cradle. 

 15th. — Came out of the nest. 



The following have been recorded as foster-parents of the Broad- 

 billed or Shining Cuckoo, in New Zealand, namely : — Grey Warbler 

 (diriiyoiic flanreiifris — the usual victim, (Geri/(/(ine alhafrijutdfn ) ; 

 South Island Tomtit (Myiomoira macrocephala) ; Bell Bird or Kori- 

 mako (Anthornia melanura ) ; White Eye ( Zosterops ccerulescens) ; and 

 the introduced House Sparrow. 



The late Mr. T. H. Potts, regarding his ob.scrvations of this Cuckoo, 

 has mentioned sixteen instances of its eggs being found in the nests of 

 Warblers, between the 28th October and 6th January — the Umits 

 probably of the laying season of the Cuckoo in New Zealand. 



