THE LONG- TAILED CUCKOO 135 



again to the North. They have not been seen to leave the Islands, 

 but it is impossible that they could remain during* the winter and 

 yet escape the eyes and snares of the Maoris, for there are no 

 wide tracts of unsettled land for them to go to either in New 

 Zealand or in the Chatham Islands. Mr. Potts says that he once 

 saw the arrival of a shining euclvoo at the Chatham Islands. It 

 was so tired when it landed that it allowed him to pick it up in 

 his hands, although in ordinary circumstances it is a very shy 

 bird. Dr. E. P. Ramsay has in his collection a specimen which 

 was taken at sea between New Zealand and Lord Howe Island. 



Outside New Zealand there is little information. The species 

 is found in Norfolk Island, where it also breeds, but elsewhere it 

 has been obtained only at Cape York, in North Queensland, where 

 it is very rare ; and it is probable that its winter home is in New 

 Guinea. Mr. E. L. Layard has stated that it occurred in New 

 Caledonia, but, according to the authorities of the British 

 Museum, his specimens belong to the allied species, C. plagosus, 

 which migrates from north to south in Australia, but does not 

 come to New Zealand. 



Gemis Urodynamis. 

 Bill strong, arched. Fourth quill the longest, the second 

 shorter than the fifth. Tail very long and wedge-shaped. New 

 Zealand and Pol.^Tiesia to the Solomon Islands. 



The Long-tailed Cuckoo. — Koekoea. 

 Urodynamis taitensis. 

 Above, brown, banded, and streaked with rufous. Below, white 

 with longitudinal streaks of dark brown. Eye, reddish brown. Length 

 of the wing, 7.75 in.; of the tarsus, 1.4 in. The sexes are alike. The 

 young have the ui^per surface brown, spotted with fulvous white; the 

 lower surface rufous white, streaked with dark brown. Eye, reddish 

 brown. Egg — Brownish olive, sometimes clouded with brownish grey; 

 length, 0.7 in. Range, the same as for the genus. 



The long-tailed cuckoo arrives in New Zealand at the end of 

 October or beginning of November, and leaves in Januarj^ or 

 February, but its movements are not so easily traced as those of 



