OF VICTORIA. 51 



shaped, and with cup-like cavity fitted above for the use of 

 the non-sitting bird when the shades of night have fallen 

 and the food of this species has retired. Occasionally two 

 chambers will be formed, without an upper cavity, one 

 lined with care, the other not so, and no dependence can 

 be placed upon which will be correctly finished. I believe 

 the cuckoo's action will finally settle the matter, for if the 

 *' parasite's " egg be deposited in one cavity, before laying 

 of eggs of the rightful owner, the tit will place its eggs in 

 the other, with the result that the cuckoo's egg will not be 

 hatched. In the case where a one-chambered nest has 

 become utilized by the stranger, the tit may cover the 

 introduced coloured egg with a lining of feathers, and so 

 prevent incubation ; but this is not generally resorted to, 

 and the strongest chick becomes the sole surviving member 

 of the group. At another time the cuckoo may be 

 " unfortunate " in the deposition of its egg within the 

 cup-shaped cavity of the nest, after which it will naturally 

 remain unhatched. This is of rare occurrence. One 

 season I observed a double nest built in the whin, both 

 rooms perfect externally, but the lower one, with its 

 entrance facing the bush — an unusual position — finished 

 internally. The whole was new, and the upper one 

 contained an egg of the Narrow-billed Bronze Cuckoo, the 

 lower a clutch of the tit. The birds appeared to be in 

 excellent plumage, and were probably old enough to 

 remember the disappointment of one or two past seasons, 

 in so much as related to the hardship of rearing an 

 uncongenial bird. As with previous cases, the foreign egg 

 remained unhatched, and this gave the smaller bird an 

 opportunity to rear its young without the stronger 

 opposition of the well-known fighting character. Rarely 

 do small birds add a second nest of the same nature. Mr. 



