r 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
went on for four or five minutes until the Honey-eater fiew away. Wliat 
meant the strange agitation of the two non-parasitical birds, the almost 
absolute passivity of the other ? The true solution would be interesting. 
Mere playfulness on the part of the smaller birds, and a love of teasing the 
intruder, may be the explanation. Much forethought and ingenuity are involved 
in the selection of a suitable nest and of the right foster-parent for its young ; 
and these qualities, I think, save the Cuckoos from any charge of stupidity 
or maternal incapacity. There are several points of interest in connection 
with these birds which are worthy of close observation. I venture to mention 
a few of them : (1) Migratory range of the various species. (2) Complete 
lists of nests appropriated by each species. (3) Whether other birds, either 
singly or collectively, drive the Cuckoo from their nests. (4) Whether the 
young birds consort with and accompany their parents or otherwise. (5) 
Whether the Cuckoo’s egg is laid in the nest of the foster-parent or otherwise. 
Item No. I is the most important and least understood at the present 
time and certainly needs close attention ; the second has been answered by 
H. L. White as quoted herein ; the third needs consideration as regards 
Australian forms ; the fourth seems to be answered in the negative as far as 
records go, no one appearing to have noted the affirmative ; while as to the 
fifth, the egg appears to be generally not laid in the nest of the foster-parent. 
C. F. Cole, in the Emu, Vol. VIII., p. 23, 1908, recorded some observations 
on the Finch as foster-parent to the Cackoo, which cannot be detailed in full 
but which tended to show that the Cuckoo cannot be reared by a Finch as 
the food disagrees so that the young Cuckoo was found dead, mainly of 
starvation. A note regarding the ejection reads so clearly that it is worth 
quoting : “I found a Finch’s nest situated low down in a pear-tree in the orchard 
and containing three Finch’s eggs and a Pallid Cuckoo’s. On examining them 
I came to the conclusion that they would soon be hatched. This surmise 
proved to be correct. On the fourth day from finding the nest, at noon, all 
four young birds had hatched. I knew that the Cuckoo would eventually 
get rid of his nest companions, either by ejecting them — the commoner method 
in vogue amongst these strange birds — or else by trampling them to death. 
This trampling to death business, as far as my observations go, is that the 
Cuckoo finds it easier work to get rid of the stronger than the weaker nestlings, 
my reasons being these : Young birds in the nest always strive for the top 
position, which naturally falls to the stronger. With the young Cuckoos it 
is the reverse : they work to get beneath, and as a rule there is no trouble, 
the other young birds readily making way, thus playing into the hands of their 
murderous nest mate, who getting them into the hollow between its shoulders, 
easily casts them out to destruction. I have on rare occasions found the 
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