120 Campbell, Ohsevvations on the Rearing of a Cuckoo. \ i^j''"",! 



single Robin's nest, nor see a single bird, while Square-tailed 

 Cuckoos whistled on all sides. I do not blame egg-collectors 

 for this, but I accuse the Cuckoos of exterminating a lovely 

 species of Robin in a lovely spot (part of a National Park, in 

 fact), where they ought to be safe from extinction by artificial 

 agents. Egg-taking does not decimate numbers ; it has rather 

 the reverse effect, as instanced in the barnyard fowl ; it is an 

 incentive to greater fecundity. But the methods of the Cuckoo 

 are more than a match for any other species of bird it insinuates 

 itself upon. 



For similar reasons, and also because of its restricted habitat, I 

 think the Scrub-Tit {AcantJiornis vingna) is doomed. This 

 unique bird, at all events in the secluded gullies upon the flanks 

 of Mt. Wellington, Tasmania, is very frequently the foster- 

 parent of C. flabcUifonuis. 



The Cuckoo at this rate will become in time the commonest 

 bird in the world, and what will happen then ? However, egg- 

 collectors need not yet be afraid, nor museums anxious to gather 

 into their archives specimens of bird life fast becoming extinct. 

 The Cuckoo may never become more a menace to quiet home- 

 loving birds than it it is now. It is not reasonable to suppose 

 that parasites in nature, of whatever kind they be, will entirely 

 exterminate their hosts, or whence would their livelihood come 

 from ? 



The Cuckoos are foolish birds, fond of perching in exposed 

 positions and whistling as if they had not a care in the world. 

 For this reason they fall easy prey to the smaller Raptores 

 (Hawks, Falcons, Kestrels). From observation I believe that 

 the Cuculidce lose greater numbers annually from birds of prey 

 than any other family. 



When a surplus of Cuckoos does occur we can expect to find 

 them dying off for some reason or other or vying with one 

 another to find and " break in " new foster-parents, or perchance 

 developing again the respectable nest-building habits they 

 possessed in olden times. 



Some Notes on the Cuckoo. 



By a. Mattincilev. 



During a visit to Ringwood on 7th October of this year I 

 found tzvo eggs of the Fan-tailed QwcVooi^CiXcovuDitisflabcIliforniis) 

 in the nest of a Brown Tit {Actnithi':a pusilhi). The nest was 

 situated about 9 feet from the ground, in the top of a wild cherry 

 tree {Exocarpos), an unusual place for this AcantJiiza to build in. 

 The finding of two Cuckoos' eggs in the same nest is an unusual 

 occurrence, although not an isolated case (see " Nests and Eggs," 



