1896.] CUCKOO IN THE GILBERT ISLANDS. 935 
“T promised to write you as to the ‘Tekabare’ (Audynams 
taitensis), of which I sent you specimens in 1894. 
“ This bird is found in both the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, and 
is, I believe, the only land-bird in the Gilberts, whereas in the 
Ellice Islands a large light slate-coloured Pigeon’, known in Fiji 
as the ‘ Thireke,’ is also found. 
“During the latter part of my stay in the Gilberts, I was 
always on the look-out for information as to the nesting of the 
‘ Tekabare,’ but was unable to get any from the natives. 
“In August last year I was at the island of Niu, in the Ellice 
Group, and while walking through the island along with the local 
trader we passed a clump of ‘buka’ trees, in which, as is common 
throughout the Ellice Islands, there were numbers of the Noddies 
(Anous stolidus) nesting. I noticed that in one tree the birds were 
much disturbed and apparently frightened. The trader explained 
that the birds were disturbed by a ‘ Hawk.’ We remained some 
time watching, and I saw our friend the Cuckoo drive a Noddy 
out of the nest and take possession of it, while the old birds and 
apparent proprietors tried in vain to dislodge the intruder. The 
trees were high with long bare boles, impossible to climb, and if 
climbed it would be difficult to get at the nests, as the wood is soft 
and the branch on which the nest was built was insufficient to bear 
one’s weight. 
“ T do not doubt that the Cuckoo was about to lay. As there are 
no ‘buka’ trees in the Gilberts, the Cuckoo doubtless lays in 
the Noddy’s nest on the pandanus. 
“T have often watched the Noddy in the Gilberts picking up 
grass and bits of coconut leaves and making its nest, which 
when finished very much resembles that belonging to a land-bird. 
It would be interesting to know whether the young Cuckoo is 
raised on a fish-diet. 
“ Although I offered rewards to the natives on many islands, 
I never was able to get an egg of the Cuckoo. In the Gilberts 
the people say they have never seen eggs or young, and, as I told 
you, they hold the tradition that the female takes a portion 
of the covering of the young palm-leaf and flying up with it 
deposits it on a cloud, lays her egg on it, where it is hatched by 
the sun. 
‘“‘ At the island of Funafuti, where the scientific expedition now 
is, the Cuckoo may be seen at the back of the town, and there are 
probably half a dozen birds in the atoll. Both the Noddy and the 
Man-of-War bird are kept as pets in the Ellice and Gilbert Islands, 
buat I could never find that the Man-of-War bird was (as has been 
stated) used to carry messages between different islands. The old 
men always laughed at the idea.” 
1 Probably Globicera pacifica. 
