122 
WILKINSON, Birds of Tararuds, N.Z. [ T $ oTl 
a young Shining Cuckoo (Lamprococcyx lucid us) about a week 
old. We made a careful search of the ground below the nest, 
but could find no trace of either eggshell or young Warblers. 
The above-mentioned tree is a favourite nesting tree with the 
Warbler in this locality, as besides the one found on the ranges, 
most of the nests found by me in different parts of the Waira- 
rapa were placed in the Tawa tree. 
The Grey Warbler is one of the natives that never seem to 
vary much in numbers. If anything, they have increased around 
these parts during the last ten years. It is one of the most 
useful birds we have, and must, in the course of a year, destroy 
an enormous number of insects. There are always some about 
my place, searching for aphides in the orchard and rose 
garden. This bird and the Silvereye rid . our gardens 
of insect pests. A pair have built, and reared young, 
in the hedge around my orchard for three seasons past. 
During the last summer they reared two broods of young War¬ 
blers, but the third attempt was a failure, as far as Warblers 
were concerned, as the parasitic Shining Cuckoo had discovered 
and made use of the Warblers 1 nest, with the result that the 
Warblers had to rear the young Cuckoo. They were in and 
about the orchard for three weeks, with the young Cuckoo con¬ 
tinually crying for food. Although feeding it most diligently 
they did not seem able to satisfy the hungry youngster. 
Both birds were feeding it for three weeks, but later I noticed 
only one feeding the young bird, the other Warbler having 
apparently become tired of the business. About this time, the 
young Cuckoo was seen to be getting some insects for itself. The 
Warbler, which I took to be the female, was not so attentive 
now, and the Cuckoo was not so persistent in its demand for 
food. A day or two after this the interesting party was broken 
up, and the Cuckoo was seen no more. 
I regret now that I did not catch the young bird and put some 
distinguishing mark or ring on it, to see if it would return to 
this locality next season. It would have been an interesting 
experiment. 
Petroica toitoi. White-breasted Tit.—Though frequenting the 
dense bush from 'the foothills to the snow line, this pretty little 
bird seems to prefer the edge of the forest. It is very fond of 
the patches of trees and shrubs which often spring up in damp 
gullies on bush clearings a few years after a burn. In these 
places, especially if they are very wet, a bush fire very often 
burns only the leaves and small branches of the timber, and 
sometimes there are patches of fallen bush missed altogether by 
the fire. In a few years, trees such as the Kotukutuku, Mahoe 
and Wineberry, as well as many others, grow to three or four 
inches in diameter, thus affording shelter to the Tomtit, and as 
there are many decaying logs in which grubs abound, the Tit 
does not have far to go for food. 
