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It sounds like " tzaafivie-tzoowie," and this oft repeated 

 note can be heard throughout the day fully half a 

 mile off. 



This Cuckoo is very shy, a quick flier, and a very 

 restless bird. It does not mind the heavy rains which 

 fall almost daily in these islands. In fact it is during 

 a rain-fall that it can be best observed. Most of those 

 which I shot or captured were obtained during a heavy 

 shower. Strange to relate their beautiful plumage is 

 never affected by the rain, the water always dropping 

 off them as it does from a duck. 



The female lays her egg in the nest of some 

 smaller bird that builds an open nest. The little 

 Zosterops ficediiliiia and the allied but larger species 

 Parinia leucophcsa are the usual foster parents of this 

 Cuckoo. A remarkable case of cuckoo rearing was 

 witnessed by me in July 1863 on the plantation I then 

 occupied. Behind my small dwelling house grew a 

 large Acacia tree, the branches of which nearly 

 touched the balcony. A pair of Pariiiias had built 

 their nest so near the verandah that I could hear the 

 young ones while they were being fed. One morning 

 the pleasant sound of this young family calling for 

 food had suddenly ceased. A week later I noticed a 

 young Cuckoo lifting its head above the nest. Stranger 

 still, two or three days later a second young Cuckoo 

 was to be seen in the same nest, and both these in- 

 truders were fed, not only by their original foster 

 parents but also by at least a dozen other small birds. 

 It was only owing to the fact that the winged-ants 

 were flying in swarms at that time that the numerous 

 volunteer foster-mothers were enabled to accomplish 

 their heavy task. Unfortunately the nest fell into 



