65 



trees, where they soon fall to the gun of the pot-hunter. During a few weeks, 

 in July and August, 1856, Kakas were to be seen in extraordinary numbers, they 

 were poor in condition, perhaps tamed by hunger ; they appeared to have lost 

 their wonted vivacity, and numbers were cut over with stock-whips, as they 

 sat perched on the rail fences, about stations on the Malvern Hills. The 

 earliest bird in the bush, its call may be heard long before daylight. 



No. 58. — Chrysococcyx lucidus, Gml. 

 Pipiwharaupa. 

 Bronze-winged Cuckoo, Whistler. 



This beautiful little bird, in some districts, is most commonly known by 

 the name of the Whistler. It is so called from its peculiarly clear note, which 

 exactly resembles the sound made by a man whistling his dog. 



It is remarkable for the regularity of its annual visits : in the neighbour- 

 hood of Christchurch it is almost sure to be heard about the 8th of October. 

 We have a note of its appearing as early as the 27th of September (1855). 

 The male bird usually selects the topmost sprays of the tallest trees for his 

 perch, during the time it is giving utterance to its remarkable call ; he seldom 

 remains long in one spot, and indulges in a restless jerky motion of his tail. 

 The female may be noticed very silently entering, and peering about scrubby 

 bushes of no great height. 



A parasite, like the Cuckoo of our Old Country, it saves itself all the 

 trouble of nest-building by making use of the nests of other birds, and, of 

 course, relieves itself of the care of providing for its young. Our experience 

 points to the little Grey Warbler (Gerygone assimilis) as the most frequent 

 victim of this "gay deceiver." The single exception we have ever observed, 

 was the Petroica macrocephala, another insect-eating bird. We are not quite 

 satisfied as to the manner in which the egg is deposited by a bird so dispro- 

 portionate in size to the nest and its porch-like entrance, as that of the Gery- 

 gone. Either this Cuckoo does not destroy the eggs of the Warbler when it 

 makes its deposit in the nest, or the bird lays to the egg of the intruder, as 

 we have taken the nest with three of the Warbler's eggs, besides the egg of 

 the Chrysococcyx ; yet, whenever the young Cuckoo has been found in the 

 nest, it has invariably been the sole tenant, we have not yet been able to 

 observe in what manner the eggs, or young of the rightful owners have been 

 extruded. In selecting the nest of so early a breeder as the Grey Warbler, as 

 a home for its young, it secures certain advantages for the benefit of its 

 offspring which should not be lost sight of. At the period of the Cuckoo's 

 arrival the Warbler has most probably reared its first brood, so that even 

 young biixls have had time to gain experience in building their habitation and 

 rearing their nestlings ; then too, everywhere insect life abounds, so that a 

 proper supply of food, sufficient for comparatively so large a bird, can be 

 obtained by its little foster parents, with less labour and more certainty, than 

 it could have been secured two months earlier, when several birds commence 

 their breeding arrangements. It has been noticed, under Gerygone, why 

 the domed nest is selected, namely, for its warmth. Then, in addition, the 

 Golden-winged Cuckoo, be it remembered, has a most extensive range, even to 

 the tropical islands of New Guinea, Java, and Sumatra — according to Schlegel 

 — (see " Finsch's Notes," p. 118), and it probably chooses a pensile nest, 

 through the same instinct, a regard to the safety of its young, which causes 

 the lately-settled Zosterops to continue, for the present, a pensile nest-builder, 

 though, as we have said elsewhere, we think there are indications of a change 

 in its style of architecture. The selection, made by this Cuckoo, goes to 

 strengthen our idea of the non-indigenous origin of our pensile nest-builders. 

 The egg, elliptical in form, pale greenish-dun in colour, measures 9 lines in 



