1896.] OTJOKOO IN THH GITjBBBT ISLANDS. 935 



" I promised to write you as to the ' Telcabare ' {Eudt/namis 

 taitensls), of which I sent you specimens in 1894. 



" This bird is found iu both the Grilbert and Elliee Islands, and 

 is, I believe, the only land-bird iu the Gilberts, whereas in the 

 EUice 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 Q-ilberta, 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 EUice 

 Group, and while wallcing through the islaud along with the local 

 trader we passed a clump of 'buka' trees, iu which, as is common 

 throughout the Elliee Islands, there were numbers of the j^oddies 

 (Aiious stolidK^?) nesting. I noticed that iu 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. 



" I do not doubb that the Cucicoo 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. 



" I have often watched the Noddy iu 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, aud, as I told 

 you, they hold the tradition that the female taltes 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 Elliee and Gilbert Islands, 

 but 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." 



' Probably Glohiccra pacifica. 



