Voi.^ XIV. J Hanscombe, Cuckoos and their Offspring. i6l 



put a sudden stop to my observations. Young bird and nest 

 were carried off by some intruder, and, judging by the marks and 

 scratchings, I would say that it was a wild cat. 



This incident I much regretted, as I was desirous of observing 

 whether the adult Cuckoos would, after a time, claim the yovmg 

 bird and prepare it for the migratory flight. I might add that since 

 the 25th November, when the nest was destroyed, I have not seen 

 either of the birds. 



It fell to my share some years ago, at Belltrees, to watch a 

 similar case in regard to the Pallid Cuckoo {Cuculus pallidus). 

 The parent birds did certainly claim the young bird after it was 

 well able to fly, and daily thereafter assisted the foster-parents to 

 feed it. 



Cuckoos — Ejection of Foster^Parents^ Chicks. 

 By a. G. Campbell (Kilsyth, Vic.) 



I HAVE been privileged to have under observation in the Kilsyth 

 district (Vic.) two nests containing Cuckoos' eggs, and to see the 

 ejection of the eggs or nestHngs by the young Cuckoo. 



In the first week in September, 1913, a nest of the Scarlet- 

 breasted Robin (Petroica leggii) was discovered, situated in a pear- 

 tree. It contained two eggs of the Robin and one egg of the 

 Fan-tailed Cuckoo [Cacomantis flabelliformis). One morning the 

 Cuckoo was found hatched, and on the ground beneath the nest 

 lay a dead nesthng of the Robin and an egg. Though the exact 

 time of the Cuckoo hatching was not determined by a close watch, 

 yet it was clearly in advance of the Robin's chicks. It appeared 

 to be about 48 hours old when first seen. When the egg and dead 

 Robin nestling were returned to the nest the young Cuckoo 

 immediately proceeded to its tactics, and in the space of about 

 a minute and a half had hoisted them over the si<{e. This was 

 repeated again and again until, at the end of five minutes, the 

 Cuckoo gave up, either in disgust or exhaustion. The procedure 

 was the same in each instance. The young Cuckoo edged round 

 with its back to the object, and, by a wriggling motion, got its 

 merithorp underneath, hoisting the unfortunate nest-mate on 

 its back, where it was held in the cavity, supported by the 

 shoulders on two sides and the merithorp on the third. The next 

 move was for the Cuckoo to raise itself on its legs against the 

 side of the nest, using its beak as a prop in the bottom ; its wings, 

 circling backward hke arms, clasped the sides of the nest to assist 

 in the leverage. The bird's body gradually rose to the level of 

 the rim of the nest, and its burden was cast over. 



This was a most uncanny display of instinct in a blind, naked, 

 and seemingly helpless nestling. To make sure that its evil work 

 was complete, the Cuckoo invariably paused for several seconds 

 in the final position, though in apparent danger of toppHng out 

 backward itself, its "arms" firmly clutching the rim of the nest 



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