270 Wonders of the Bird World 



perching near the nest while the parent-birds were away 

 foraging, and then the Cuckoo would find its opportunity to 

 drop its egg into the Drongo's nest. Other Indian Cuckoos 

 like the Black Crested Cuckoo (Coccystes jacobinus) and the 

 Red- winged Crested Cuckoo (C. coromandus] lay blue eggs, 

 and are parasitic on Babbling-Thrushes, which also lay eggs 

 of the same colour. 



The protective colouring of certain birds acts in a 

 different way to the protective " mimicry " to which I have 

 just alluded. There are many weak and helpless birds 

 which owe their preservation in the battle of life to the 

 resemblance which their plumage exhibits to their normal 

 surroundings. Of this phenomenon a wonderful example 

 is afforded by the Kakapo or Owl -Parrot (Stringops 

 habroptilus) of New Zealand. This is a large flightless 

 bird, with a heavy body, clothed in grass-green plumage. 

 The wings are quite large, and at first sight would appear 

 perfectly capable of carrying their owner through the air, as 

 no doubt they did in past times, but now this power has 

 been lost, and with it has followed the disappearance of the 

 keel of its breastbone. There is no longer any necessity 

 for its presence to increase the support for the attachment 

 of the pectoral muscles, upon which the flight of a bird so 

 largely depends. As regards the form of the sternum in 

 the Owl-Parrot it is almost as thoroughly " ratite " as that 

 of any Struthious bird. It lives in New Zealand, side by 

 side with the flightless Apteryx and Giant Gallinule 

 (Notornis). The allies of the latter bird are the Purple 

 Gallinules (Porphyrio], which are found distributed at the 

 present day over the tropical portions of both hemispheres, 

 and they are birds which fly very fairly, considering that they 

 belong to the skulking family of the Rails (Rallidce). Of 

 the volant progenitors of the flightless Apteryx, we have as 

 yet no trace, but the Parrots are birds of remarkable powers 

 of flight, and in this family it is as an anomaly to meet with 



