KHASIA HILLS CUCKOO 95 



no objection to the entry of any number of males or of another female 

 parasitic on a different species. Thus in a certain area close to the 

 house in which I lived in Shillong I found three cuckoos breeding; 

 one depositing its eggs in the nests of the little fantail warbler {Cis- 

 ticola jundicis cursitans)^ the second in the nests of the verditer 

 flycatcher {Eumyias thalassina thalassina), and the third in the nests 

 of the black-headed shrike {Lanius iiigriceps nigriceps). On an- 

 other occasion I took eggs of three different cuckoos from nests of 

 Cisticola^ Niltava^ and Leiothr'ix in the same strip of jungle and not 

 50 yards from one another. Yet another instance of shared territory 

 was a grass-covered hillside occupied by two female cuckoos, the one 

 parasitic on the same little fantail warbler and the other on pipits 

 (species various). Other similar instances were quite common in 

 this district. 



My personal experience confirms what those interested in cuckoo- 

 work have for some time maintained in regard to cuckoos being con- 

 sistently parasitic on one selected foster parent. A good example of 

 this constancy is a series, collected for me by a family of four men 

 trained by myself in cuckoo-work in the Kliasia Hills. From 1925 

 to 1935 these men obtained for me no less than 132 eggs of one cuckoo 

 parasitic on the fantail warbler, all collected in the same area of 

 grass and scrub surrounded by pine forest. Of these 132 eggs only 

 4 were taken from nests other than those of the little fantail and of 

 these 4, 3 were placed in the nests of another little warbler {Orthoto- 

 mus sutorius patio) and the other in the nest of the Assam brown hill 

 warbler {Suya crinigera assamica), both, of course, in the same 

 territory. 



In addition to the above I have many series of eggs, numbering 3 

 to 15, from individual cuckoos, occasionally taken in two or more 

 consecutive years, all placed in nests of the same warbler. Again I 

 have other series of cuckoos' eggs, some taken from nests of Suya 

 (various species) ; others from those of Eumyias, pipits (various 

 species), the silver-eared mesia {Mesia a. argentauris) , the Pekin 

 robin {Leiothrix httea calypyga), and other fosterers. As a rule the 

 cuckoo also shows equal constancy to its chosen breeding area, re- 

 turning year after year to it and leaving it only when the supply of 

 fosterers is exhausted or the nature of the country has been altered 

 by man or some other agency. Wliere the normal foster parent is 

 exceptionally common, such as are the warblers of the genera Cisti- 

 cola and Suya, the cuckoo often has ample nests in a compact area to 

 act as hosts to her whole series of eggs, and we have found as many 

 as 18 eggs laid by the same individual within such an area. Wliere, 

 however, the fosterers such as pipits or mesia are less numerous or are 

 breeding in comparatively small areas, some 4 to 10 eggs are laid in 



