A CUCKOO COLONIST. 



43 



owner, clearings were soon made, and as the clearings 

 came into existence so apparently did this black cuckoo. 

 Its nearest neighbours live in the Cayman Islands, one 

 hundred and eighty-five miles away. 



This bird, which, unlike some of the true cuckoos, 

 builds its own nest — and we may add in contradistinction 

 to the British schoolboy who wrote the famous essay — 

 " lays its own egg," is practically omnivorous, but it has 

 a distinct regard for cattle ticks. It will find nothing 

 like these loathsome creatures on Swan Island, which, 

 when we were there, contained only one or two Alderney 

 cows, and the ticks of these will surely not be enough 

 to go round. Apparently the birds have recognised this 

 fact and have turned their attention to local dainties, 

 for in the stomach of one we found four lizards, and 

 the remains of several large beetles. 



Swan Island is not the only island of which we have 

 evidence of the approximate time of colonisation by these 

 birds, for writing of Tobago in the Annals of Natural 

 History " (Vol. IV., 1840, p. 163) a Mr. Kirk says : I 

 am informed that the first pair seen here was in the years 

 1822 or 1823." 



Seeing how well known the bird is in the West Indies, 

 it is rather remarkable how little is really known for 

 certain in regard to its very peculiar methods of nesting. 

 It is generally supposed that many females of this species 

 make use of one large and common nest, in which they 

 l^y ^ggs sandwiched in between layers of sticks, leaves 

 and grass, but, as far as I am aware, no recent naturahst 

 has ever placed on record the results of his actual obser- 

 vations in connection with this curious fact. In or about 

 the year 1847, Sir Wm. Jardine endeavoured to obtain 

 evidence on the subject from the Mr. Kirk we have already 

 mentioned, and the results of his researches were publislied 

 in the " Annals of Natural History " (Vol. XX., 1847). 



Finally, among the doubtful residents of Swan Island 

 we must put down No. 10, the myrtle-warbler. This 

 small bird, about the size of a spotted flycatcher, is a 



