AFRICAN PARASITIC CUCKOOS — FRIEDMANN 405 



both of these were out of the nest, the inference being that they were 

 ejected by the cuckoo. Keed's general observations, based not onl}^ 

 on those two cases but on many other less detailed instances, are that 

 the didric nestling "appears to eject the eggs or young of its host in 

 all cases because in no single instance were large Didric Cuckoo chicks 

 found -with Red Bishop .young in the same nest." 



Contrary to all the above are the cases observed by Pitman and by 

 Chapin (Friedmann, 1949a, pp. 180-181) in which the cuckoo and its 

 nest-mate grew up together until leaving the nest. The type of ex- 

 periment tried by Reed should be repeated, with constant observation 

 to see if, and how, ejection is performed. 



Fledgling Feeding 



Another observation of fledgling feeding by a didric cuckoo comes 

 to me from Pike, who saw, in the Transkei area, Cape Province, on 

 December 11, a well grown young didric being fed by an adult male 

 of the same species. This further supports tlie general conclusion 

 that fledgling feeding is done by the male, and, to this extent, bolsters 

 the thought that fledgling feeding may be only courtship feeding with 

 a grown young being mistaken for a hen by the cock bu-d. 



Additional cases of a male didric feeding another of its kind have 

 been pubUshed by Maclaren (1953, p. 167; 1952, pp. 684-685), but 

 the light was poor on all occasions and he was unable to determine 

 if the birds being fed were adult females or fidly fledged young. 



Literature cited 



Bannerman, David A. 



1951. Birds of tropical West Africa, vol. 8, 552 pp. 

 Bates, R. S. P. 



1938. On the parasitic habits of the pied crested cuckoo [Clamator jacobinus 

 (Bodd)]. Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. 40, p. 125. 

 Belcher. Charles F. 



1949a. Eggs from Somalia. Oolog. Rec, vol. 23, pp. 35-41. 



1949b. Review of "Parasitic Cuckoos of Africa." Nature in East Africa, 

 ser. 2, No. 2, pp. 14-20. 

 Benson, C. \V. 



1951. Breeding and other notes fromNyasaland and the Sundazi District of 

 Northern Rhodesia. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 106, pp. 69-114. 



1953. A check list of the birds of Nyasaland. vi + 118pp. 

 Benson, C. W., and Benson, F. M. 



1949. Notes on birds from northern Nyasaland and adjacent Tanganyika 

 Territory. Ann. Transvaal Mus., vol. 21, pp. 155-177. 

 Bergh, C. J. 



1942. Some birds of Belfast, Transvaal. Ostrich, vol. 13, pp. 98-99. 

 BuLLER, Walter L. 



1873. History of the birds of New Zealand, xxiii + 384 pp. 



