l6o Mellor, The Yoiing of Climacteris leucophcsa. [isf^jan. 



blackish-brown, each feather having a stripe of pale cream down 

 the centre. The feathers have a softer and more silky appearance 

 than in the adult bird, and also are hghter on the whole beneath 

 than the full-plumaged female. Iris brown ; bill horn ; feet light 

 horn. 



Cuckoos and their Offspring. 



By S. a. Hanscombe, R.A.O.U. (Seaham, N.S.W.) 



On 28th October, after many days' observations, I succeeded in 

 locating a well-hidden nest of a pair of Buff-tailed Tit-Warblers 

 {Acanthiza reguloides). They had successfully eluded me for 

 some days, though I was aware that they had completed their 

 nest. Profiting by earher experiences, I engaged in observations 

 in the early morning, and found the nest. Many times I had 

 rested beside it. It was safely hidden on the top rail of a paling 

 fence, the paling and the rail holding it securely from wind or 

 weather, while, overhanging the whole, was a large chaff-bag 

 closely fitting over the paling and sapling. The fence was part 

 of the remains of a deserted bush home, and here the old bag had 

 hung for many months. 



The opening to the nest was very small, but on inspection one 

 egg was to be seen. On the evening of 29th another egg was 

 there, and on the 30th the nest also held an egg of the Bronze- 

 Cuckoo {Chalcococcyx plagosus). There were now certainly only 

 two eggs of A. reguloides, and no evidence of any egg having been 

 displaced, but this could have happened, as a colony of ants, a 

 few feet distant, could readily account for the destruction of 

 eggs ejected from the nest. 



From further observations I concluded that the parent birds 

 were at work incubating. On 13th November the egg of the 

 intruder had hatched, and the httle naked bird was a ball of 

 activity. On the 14th November the other two eggs were still 

 unhatched, but on the 15th both had disappeared. I could see 

 no trace of shell and none of young birds, save the rapidly im- 

 proving C. plagosus. Whether, in its bhnd twistings and rolhngs 

 about for food, the latter had ejected either two eggs or two 

 nestlings, I cannot say. Probably the eggs were ejected as 

 " addled " specimens by the birds themselves, as to me it 

 appeared too difficult a task for the young bird to perform. The 

 position of the entrance to the nest leads me to this conclusion. 

 The young Cuckoo grew very rapidly. Two adult Bronze- 

 Cuckoos were always in the immediate neighbourhood, though 

 they certainly never took part in supplying food to the fledgeling. 

 The Tit-Warblers fed the alien with great care and attention till 

 about 9 a.m., when visits slackened, to be renewed again at about 

 2 p.m., and continue well on to 5 p.m. In ten days the bird 

 had grown wonderfully, and was well plumed, when an accident 



