130 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Key to the Genera. 



Colour, metallic gveeii. Chalcococcyx. 



Colour, brown. Urodynaniis. 



Genus Chalcococcyx. 

 Bill moderate, the nostrils round. Third quill the longest -, 

 under surface of the quills with a single oblique pale bar. Tail 

 rounded, of ten feathers. India and the Malayan Archipelago^ 

 to Australia and New Zealand. 



The Shining Cuckoo. — Pipiwharauroa. 

 Chalcococcyx lucidus. 

 Above, metallic bronzy green; below, white, barred with bronzy 

 brown. Outer tail feather barred with white, the second with rufous. 

 Forehead, freckled with white. Eye, black. Length of the wing, 4 in.; 

 of the tarsus, 0.65 in. The sexes are alike. The young are duller in 

 colour, and the bands on the lower surface are more numerous and not 

 so distinct. Egg — Brownish olive; length, 0.75 in. Both Islands, 

 Chatham Islands, Northern Australia. 



Both our cuckoos sustain the reputation of many members of 

 the Cuculidffi family as impudent parasites, who usurp the nests 

 of other birds, and leave them to hatch and bring up the young 

 cuckoos. One of our birds is called the shining, or bronze, 

 cuckoo, and the other the long-tailed cuckoo, and both are summer 

 visitors and notable migrants. 



In New Zealand, the little grey warbler is generally selected 

 by the cuckoos as a victim for their parasitical habits. Instances 

 are recorded, however, where the nests of other birds have been 

 appropriated. ]Mr. G. M. Thomson, of Dunedin. states that he 

 was once shown a house-sparrow's nest, which had been built 

 in a large bramble bush, and contained four eggs, three belonging 

 to the sparrow" and one to the shining cuckoo. In Otago the grey 

 warbler, tlie South Island tom-tit, and the white-eye are generally 

 made the foster-parents. In Gatherings of a Naturalist in Aus- 

 tralasia, Dr. Bennett states that a white-striped fiy-catcher was 

 shot at Ryde, near Sydney, in the act of feeding a solitary young 

 bird in its nest, which, w^hen examined, was found to be a chick 

 of the shining cuckoo. He says that it was ludicrous to observe 

 the large and, apparently, well-fed bird filling up with its 



