^■^•^•Jg"] From Magazines, &c. 1 63 



their heads and necks backwards and forwards when standing 



on the watch. The nest is always built on the ground, near the 



butt of a mallee bush or under some low shrub. The clutch is 



from one to three. When flushed, the bird flies but a short 



distance, and again settles. It resembles in some of its habits 



the Scrub-Robin {Dryuunvdiis brunncopyginsX' 



* * * 



The Cuckoo.— Mr. Gordon Dalgleish, a well-known British 

 observer, contributes to the October number of TJie Avicultural 

 Magazine some interesting notes on the Cuckoo {Cucuhis canoriis). 

 The author claims no originality for his notes, nevertheless he 

 records certain observations which appear to add something to 

 our knowledge of these "birds of mystery" as regards their 

 parasitic habits. The question whether instinct or reason is 

 responsible for the Cuckoo's practice of laying her eggs in the 

 nests of other birds is treated with caution by the author, but he 

 says: — " That a bird should save itself the trouble of catering for 

 and looking after a family is, 1 think, sufficient proof of cunning 

 and deep thought, and not want of intellect." Mr. Dalgleish also 

 believes that Cuckoos are guilty of eating the eggs of other birds. 

 He states that he once saw an Indian Cuckoo [Eudynaims 

 honorata) rob a Dove's nest, and fly off with the o.^^ in its bill, 

 hotly pursued by the owner. Referring to the Cuckoo's power 

 of matching its eggs with those of the different birds selected as 

 foster-parents, the author gives instances which have come under 

 his own notice, and quotes from The Countryside {yo\. iii., No. 

 68) a letter written by Mr. Gillett Cory, who states, inter alia, 

 that he has examined sixteen nests, each containing a Cuckoo's 

 &^g of different species of birds with their respective clutches 

 of eggs. In every case the Cuckoo's z^^ could scarcely be 

 distinguished from those of the intended foster-parent, even the 

 most delicate markings being closely imitated. Mr. Dalgleish 

 raises an interesting point—" Does the male Cuckoo first find 

 the nest in which the female is to place her o.^^ ? " He answers 

 the question in the affirmative, but more confirmation is required 

 than the evidence he adduces before any definite conclusion can 

 be arrived at. The v/riter states, again, that there is one instance 

 on record {Ibis, 1889, p. 219) of the European Cuckoo hatching 

 its own eggs, and he thinks it probable that at times young 

 Cuckoos, after leaving the nest, are tended by the true mother 

 or other Cuckoos. This opens a wide field for investigation, 

 and Australian observers should lose no opportunity of gathering 

 evidence in support or otherwise of the theor)\ Returning 

 to the question of protective resemblance in the eggs, Mr. 

 Dalgleish concludes that one of the possible reasons for the 

 dissimilarity that sometimes exists between eggs of a Cuckoo 

 and foster-parents is that the Cuckoo has only at a comparatively 

 recent period realised the importance of matching its eggs with 

 those of its victims. 



