AFRICAN PARASITIC CUCKOOS — FRIEDMANN 391 



bright orange gape. On a closer approach, the bird reacted by 

 darting its bill forward to strike the hand that was extended toward 

 it, an action much more aggressive than any feeding behavior. Liver- 

 sidge found that on the eighth day the eyes were open shghtlj" early 

 in the morning but were closed again in the evening. It was not 

 until the 10th day that the bird seemed able to make full and con- 

 tinuous use of its ej^es; on this daj^ the chick first reacted to move- 

 mejits of his hand. This, it ma}^ be noted, is a little later than in 

 Reed's experience, and ma}' reflect the range of individual variation 

 in the rate of this stage of the development. 



The first noise uttered by the chick, according to Liversidge, was 

 heard on the 10th da}^, a quiet, chattering note. The next day this 

 note, now mach louder, was used apparent!}^ only in connection with 

 begging for food. The original gaping reaction given in response to 

 touchmg the nest continued up to the 11th da}', but by the evening 

 of the 12th day such stimulation ojily elicited threatening reactions. 



The period from the 15th day of nestling life onward to the time 

 the chick is fledged and leaves the nest is characterized by a greater 

 variety of activities. The bird first begins to preen on the 15th day, 

 at first in a haphazard, apparently nonfunctional way, but rapidly 

 becoming fuUy functional. On this day the nestling was first seen 

 tr^-ing to stand up, unsuccessfully at first, but soon becoming better 

 at it. On the 18th day Liversidge's bird first practiced stretching its 

 wings, and from then on it quivered its wings whenever begging for 

 food or being fed. On this da,y, also, it first seemed to distinguish 

 the call of the foster parents, but showed no ability to differentiate 

 between the various notes given by tiie robin-chats while at the nest. 

 Reed observed that when the young cuckoo had left the nest it appar- 

 ently was able to distinguish the alarm note and to react accordingly. 



We still know very httle about the postnestling stage of the young 

 cuckoo's development, the stage when it becomes separated from the 

 care of its host and becomes self-sufficient. Reed banded a young 

 red-chested cuckoo before it left the nest of its foster parents and 

 found it being fed by them as much as 13 days after it left the nest. 

 It continued to remain withm a radius of 50 yards of the nest for at 

 least a month, after which it was seen no more. 



Stanford (in htt.) watched a pair of Cape robin-chats feeding a 

 young red-chested cuckoo some days out of the nest. He first found 

 the latter by hearing its low-pitched but incessant "tsip-tsip-tsip" 

 notes. When the robin-chats came close to it, the bird's caUing 

 increased in intensity; the young cuckoo bent foi*ward, opened its 

 bill, partly opened and drooped its ^^dngs and ruffied its plumage. 

 The call became much louder and was repeated more frequently, the 

 bill opening and closing spasmodically all the while. Once the bird 



