82 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 65 



In the case of C. malayanus russatus there are two records. Barnard 

 (1926, pp. 6-7) saw one of these cuckoos clinging to the side of a "nest 

 of Gerygone magnirostris. I was quite close to the bird at the time and 

 could not mistake its identity. I waited till it flew off, then examined 

 the nest and found two eggs of the Gerygone and a freshly laid egg of 

 the Cuckoo . . . ." The commentator (A. J. Campbell) added to 

 this that in answer to a question, Barnard replied, "The bird (L. [=C.] 

 russatus) when seen at the Gerygone's nest was clinging to the material 

 with the head at the entrance, but not inside, the bird's taU pointing 

 to the ground; therefore it was impossible for the cuckoo to have been 

 leavmg the nest (i.e., laying in it). The assumption is therefore that 

 the egg was placed in the nest and not laid in it; also from the size of 

 the bkd the nest would be considerably disturbed, if the bird had 

 entered to lay. The nest in question was not disarranged in any way." 



A second case was reported by Seaton (1962, p. 176), who saw one 

 of these cuckoos fly to the nest of a yellow-breasted sunbird, Cyrto- 

 stomus jrenatus, "carrying an egg in its bill; it clung to the side of the 

 nest and, placing its head in the aperture, deposited the egg in the 

 nest chamber. I rushed to the nest and on examination found the egg, 

 which was still warm, coloured and freckled like the egg previously 

 deposited [in another earlier nest by this cuckoo]." The sunbirds 

 returned to the nest, chattered a little, and then deserted it, starting 

 a new nest nearby shortly afterwards. 



Many years ago Bennett (1879, p. 245) made an observation on the 

 narrow-bUled bronze cuckoo, C. basalis, indicative of mandibular egg 

 placement. He had once shot a female basalis and found it had an egg 

 of its own species in its throat. This led him to suspect that the bird 

 was on its way to a host's nest in which it would have deposited the 

 egg held in its mouth. Some time later he found a nest of Malurus 

 lamberti containing two eggs of its own. Wishing to get a complete 

 clutch, he left it untouched and returned a few days later. As he came 

 near he saw a female basalis clinging to the side of the nest with its 

 head thrust down into the entrance. His approach caused the cuckoo 

 to fly off, and he examined the nest and found it to contain three eggs 

 of the fairy wren and one of the cuckoo. He concluded "that the 

 cuckoo must have carried the egg in her mouth and then deposited 

 it in the nest, for it did not appear possible for the bird to get the 

 whole of its body into the nest; indeed so small was the aperture that 

 I had to tear the nest open to obtain the eggs . . . ." 



Another instance of mandibular deposition by the same species of 

 bronze cuckoo was reported by Selby (1946, p. 186), who found a 

 nest with two eggs of the red-capped robin, Petroica goodenovii, on the 

 ground. The robins were excitedly worrying a cuckoo "which was sitting 

 on the sand. Very shortly the Cuckoo rose, picked up its egg in its 



