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A history of the of

Buller, Walter Lawry

London, 1888

ETH-Bibliothek Zürich

Shelf Mark: Rar 9159

Persistent Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-43015

[Fam. Cuculidae.]

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long TAILED CUCKOO (ADULT&YOUNG.) eudynamis taitensis . flaviventris ( THREE - FOURTHS NATURAL SIZE .; '5na^ * ml-rsUf’yi**1 •v-v -‘ WJ! "J\5V:!.f£t‘- $**.■**- ?.■.rffi%ttS;q-

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lfeSkw-Ai- Okdee PICAltLE.] [Fam . CUCULID ^E .

EUDYNAMIS TAITENSIS .

(LONG-TAILED CUCKOO.)

Le Coucou brun varie de noir, Montb. Ois. vi. p. 376 (1779). Society Cuckoo, Lath . Gen. Syn. ii. p. 514 (1782 ). Cuculus taitemis , Sparrm. Mus. Carls, t. 32 (1787 ). Cuculus taitius , Gm. Syst. Nat . i. p. 412 (1788 ). Eudynamys taitensis , Gray, Dieff. Trav. ii., App . p. 193 (1843 ). Cuculus fasciatus , Forst. Descr. Anim . p. 160 (1844 ). Eudynamys cuneicauda, Peale , U. S. Expl . Exp . p. 139 , pi. 38. f. 2 (1848 ). Eudynamys tahitius , Gray, B . Tr. Isl . Paeif . Ocean, p. 35 (1859 ). Eudynamis taitiensis , Cab. & Heine , Mus. Hein . Th. iv. p. 56 (1862 ). Eudynamis tahitiensis , Potts , Trans. N .-Z. Inst . vol. iii . p. 90 (1870 ).

Native names.

Koekoea, Kawekawea, Koheperoa , and Kohaperoa .

ad. brunneus, pileo longitudinaliter fulvo striato : corpore reliquo superiore brunneo et pallide ferrugineo con- spicue at irregulariter transfasciato: tectricibus alarum fulvo maculatis : cauda brunneo et ferrugineo trans- fasciata alboque terminata : remigibus brunneis, ferrugineo maculatis, fascias irregulares formantibus : supercilio angusto fulvo : regione auriculari brunnea angustissime fulvo lineata : genis et collo laterali albis ferrugineo lavatis et brunneo longitudinaliter striatis : subtixs albicans, plumis medialiter brunneo striatis et ferrugineo tinctis : hypochondriis brunneo transfasciatis : subalaribus fulvescenti-albis, anguste brunneo striatis : rostro pallide brunneo, ad basin saturatiore, mandibula flavicante: pedibus viridi-flavis, unguibus brunneis : iride rubescente, interdum flavicante: regione ophthalmica nuda sordide viridi. V*Xa mari distinguenda : paullo minor : coloribus sordidioribus. JllV Pallidior , suprii ubique albido maculatus, nee fasciatus : cauda pallide fulvo transfasciata : subtiis ochraceus, Pectore abdomineque maculis elongatis triquetris notatis : rostro flavicanti-brunneo : pedibus viridi-flavis. dult male . Upper surface dark brown, with a purplish gloss, longitudinally streaked on the head and neck, barred and spotted on the wings and back with rufous; wi'ng-coverts tipped with fulvous white; quills dark brown , banded with pale rufous; tail-feathers marked in their whole extent with narrow alternate bars of dark brown and rufous, tipped with white and finely glossed with purple; a broad line of yellowish white passing from the nostrils over the eyes, and another extending downwards from the angles of the mouth ; lores and chin white, with numerous black hair-like filaments; sides of the neck dark brown mixed with rufous • throat, fore part of neck, breast, and sides of the body pure white, with numerous longitudinal streaks of brown, each feather having a hroad mark down the centre ; lining of wings fulvous white or pale fawn- colour; femoral plumes and under tail-coverts crossed with broad arrow-head marks of brown. Bill Pale brown, darker at the base, and yellowish on the lower mandible; irides reddish brown, inclining in some to yellow; hare skin surrounding the eyes dull green; tarsi and toes greenish yellow; claws dark brown . Total length 16'5 inches; extent of wings 21 ; wing, from flexure, 7'5 ; tail 9'75 ; bill along the ri

the plumage duller , the purple gloss on the Adult female . Slightly smaller than the male , and with the tints of upper parts being scarcely perceptible . narrow streaks , on the hind neck with fusi¬ Young . Upper surface blackish brown , marked on the crown with quills and tail -feathers blackish brown , barred form and on the hack with rounded spots of fulvous yellow ; -brown ; on each side of the throat two and tipped with fulvous brown . Under surface pale cinnamon broad shaft -lines of dusky black ; under tail - longitudinal streaks , and on the breast and sides of the body colour in the form of an inverted V . Bill coverts barred and tibial plumes crossed with marks of the same yellowish brown ; tarsi and toes greenish yellow .

in the ground -tints and in the markings Obs. In examples of the young birds much difference is observable both have the spots on the upper surface pale rufous of the plumage . Some are much darker than others , and white ; some have the barred markings on instead of fulvous yellow ; in others , again , they are yellowish as in the adult , although not so regular m the tail -feathers very obscure , while in others they are as distinct form . as “ mimicry ,” or the law of protective Note.—There is a remarkable phenomenon in the world known to naturalists 205 among the Lepidoptera . Mr . Wallace describes , at page resemblance . It is developed chiefly among insects , and particularly , when at rest , so closely resembles a dead leaf as aim 08* of his enchanting hook on the ‘ Malay Archipelago ,’ a butterfly which a disguise that so exactly represents a slightly curved or to defy detection . The varied details of colouring combine to produce of insectivorous birds , except when on the wing . The shrivelled leaf as to render the butterfly quite safe from the attacks well able then to protect itself . Mr . Wallace adds that in of the insect , on the other hand , is so vigorous and rapid that it is dots , so closely resembling the way in which minute fung 1 many specimens there occur patches and spots , formed of small black grown on the butterflies themselves ! This protective imh® grow on leaves that it is impossible not to believe that fungi have , and may of itself be sufficient to save it from extmc tion must obviously favour the species in the general struggle for existence would , on discovery , he eagerly devoured , assumes f°r tion . But there is another kind of “ mimicry ,” where one insect which notoriously distasteful to birds and reptiles , and often similar protective purposes a close resemblance to some other insect might be given in illustration of this singular fact , every belonging to a totally different family or order . Numberless instances , and all being explainable on the principle of variation department furnishing examples of adaptation more or less complete , when exploring in the Moluccas , was the first to discover under natural selection or the “ survival of the fittest .” Mr . Wallace colouring had long been known to exist in the case similar instances of mimicry among birds , although the law of protective co-existing with very important structural difference 8) birds ’ eggs . He gives two very curious examples of external resemblance in any natural arrangement . In one of these a Honey rendering it impossible to place the model and the copy near each other is thus stated :— “ They must derive some advantage fr °® sucker has its colours mimicked by a species of Oriole , and the reason and claws , they may require it . Now , the Tropidorbyncb the imitation , and as they are certainly weak birds , with small feet and long , curved , sharp beaks . They assemble together ^ are very strong and active birds , having powerful grasping elaws , which can be heard at a great distance , and serves to co groups and small flocks , and they have a very loud , bawling note , very pugnacious , frequently driving away crows and eve a number together in time of danger . They are very plentiful and It is very probable , therefore , that the smaller birds of Pr ^ hawks , which perch on a tree where a few of them are assembled . thus be a great advantage for the weaker and less courag ^ have learnt to respect these birds , and leave them alone , and it may Variation and Survival of the fittest will suffice to exp ^ Mimotas to be mistaken for them . This being the case , the laws of voluntary action on the part of the birds themselves , how the resemblance has been brought about , without supposing any difficulty in comprehending the whole process .” those who have read Mr . Darwin ’s ‘ Origin of Species ’ will have no Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus ) is supposed to ^ Among the many minor instances that have attracted notice , the English far ■ -Hawk (Accipiter nisus ) ; but the resemblance is protection from the resemblance of its markings to those of the Sparrow imen8 of Hawk (Accipiter cooperi ). In fully adult speci striking between our Long -tailed Cuckoo and a North -American species are very pronounced , while the peculiar form o ^ of the former it will be observed that the markings of the plumage . Beyond the general grouping of the colours itself distinguishes it very readily from all other New -Zealand species great protective resemblance is sufficiently manifest nothing to remind us of our own Bush -Hawk ; and that there is no , which is timorous enough in the presence of a , fact that our Cuckoo is persecuted on every possible occasion by tho found in the Zoological Museum at Erankfort what a^ ^ er’s During a trip , however , on the Continent , in the autumn of 1871 , 1 Not only has our Cuckoo the general contour of y to be the accipitrine model , in a very striking likeness to our . the arrow -head bars on the femoral plumes are ^.^ ^ jse Sparrow -Hawk , but the tear -shaped markings on the underparts and handed tail and marginal wing - coverts , and i ' ^ similar in both . The resemblance is carried still further in the beautifully . On turning to Mr . Sharpe ’s description of the in the distribution of colours and markings on the sides of the neck Museum (p . 137 ), it will be seen how many of th male ” of this species in his Catalogue of the Accipitres in the British 129

employed apply equally to our Eudynamis , even to the general words “ deep brown above with a chocolate gloss, all the feathers °f the upper surface broadly edged with rufous .” The coincident existence of Bucha remarkable resemblance to a New-World form cannot of course be any protection to an ^ habitant of New Zealand , and I do not pretend in this instance to apply the rule ; but in the light of natural selection, to which at present no limit can be assigned, the fact itself is a suggestive one, and sufficiently striking to call for special mention .

J-He illustration which accompanies this article , although it may have the appearance of an exaggera - |'10n’ is in reality a true picture of bird-life. The Long-tailed Cuckoo, which is a native of the warm ls iands of the South Pacific, visits our country in the summer and breeds with us ; but the task of rearing its young (as many witnesses can testify) is entrusted to the Grey Warbler (Gerygone ■fluviventris), figured in our Plate—a species that performs the same friendly office for the Shining ^ ckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus), another summer visitant. Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub , in their valuable work on the Birds of Central Polynesia, record the occurrence of this species in Samoa, as well as in the Friendly *, the Society, the Marquesas, and the J1groups of islands ; but although it migrates to New Zealand, there is no mention of its occurrence 111 any part of Australia or Tasmania. Iu the still summer’s evening when the landscape is wrapped in the gloom of faded twilight— ^ en n° sound meets the ear but the low musical song of the pihareinga cricket and the occasional 111°f a Prionoplus on the wing—there comes from the thicket a long-drawn cry, shrill and clear ; n a pause of five minutes or more, followed by another cry ; and so on at intervals till long after e pihareingas have ceased to chirp and the nocturnal beetles have folded their wings in sluggish e pose. This is the first intimation we get that the Long-tailed Cuckoo has come amongst us. It begins to arrive about the second week in October, but is not numerous till the following ^ uuthj when the pairing commences. It is, however, somewhat irregularly dispersed over the untry ; for jn tijg far nor tb it is at all times a very rare bird. In the southern portion of the North ud, and throughout the wooded parts of the , it is comparatively common. It Ppears to be most plentiful in November and December, becoming scarcer in January and dis¬ appearing altogether by the end of February . I have a note, however, of its occurrence at Otaki (in e North Island) as late as the first week in April. Young birds are not unfrequently met with in the month of March or even later ; but it seems a le that these are only solitary individuals hatched too late to permit of their joining in the ca 11111 ln^ ra 8 tion, and accordingly left to perish as the cold season advances; and this is likewise the latt WltlX Ur ° ShininS Cuckoo. As an illustration of this, I may mention that a young bird of this (lo S^ec^es’ which had been picked up dead in a garden, was brought to me at g a* the end of February ter the old birds had quitted the country), and that I found it excessively fat, and the stomach a with caterpillars—strong presumptive evidence that the bird had not suffered from the § ect of its foster-parents, but had succumbed to the exigencies of its late birth. ^ ^ ^ he early dawn and during the cool hours of the morning, the Long-tailed Cuckoo resorts to Ihe Un(^ erw°od and brushes ; but although its cry may be frequently heard, it is not easy to find 0a :lr(^’ inasmuch as the sound, though produced within a few yards of the listener, has the effect the 6 6ar one coming from a remote distance. This species, in fact, appears, like some others of same family, to be endowed with a sort of natural ventriloquism, and its apparently far-off cry is en7 ery deceptive. the searc hing for his food the Koheperoa moves about with much activity ; but as soon as rgQj^ * SUP be betakes himself to the top branches of a kahikatea or other lofty tree, where he ns cl°sely concealed till sunset. He continues to utter , at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes, hr . Finsch has identified a young male in the spotted dress in a collection of birds from the island of Eua . S 130

to hear) his prolonged shrill note (quite distinct from all other sounds of the forest, and very pleasant , as the till about noon, when he remains perfectly silent for two hours or more. As soon, however to hunt for heat of the day is over, he resumes his cry, and shortly afterwards leaves his retreat food again. from the It is not unusual to hear a pair of these birds answering each other for hours together , for it may tops of neighbouring trees. Indeed, I have observed that it is habitually stationary always quite often be heard uttering its long, plaintive scream for a whole day in the same tree, but till out of view. During the quiet nights of December its piercing cry may be heard at intervals . break of day, varied only in the earlier watches by the solemn hooting of the Morepork group- This species is more predatory in its habits than is usual with the members of this birds, Lizards and large insects form its principal diet ; but it also plunders the nests of other 1856, devouring alike the eggs and young. From the stomach of one which I shot in December mutilated, I took the body of a young bird (apparently a ), partly fledged and only slightly in spirit* showing the enormous capacity of the Cuckoo’s throat . This interesting object, preserved beetle is now in the collection of the Colonial Museum at Wellington . The large nocturnal fetid bug, (Prionojilus reticularis ), the various species of Peinacridm and Phasmidce, the kekereru or the supp°rt the large bush Cicada, and different kinds of spiders and caterpillars, all contribute to I have of this bird ; for I have found their remains in abundance in the stomachs of specimens dissected. this 01 As already stated, it is accustomed to rob the nests of other birds ; and whether from The instant one some other cause, it is an object of constant persecution to the Tui or Parson bird. to tree, and fairly of these birds shows itself, the Tui commences its pursuit , chasing it from tree one ti®e driving it out of the woods. I have actually seen three or four of these persecutors at it to take following the unfortunate Cuckoo, with loud cries of intimidation, and, finally, compelling refuge in the long grass on the banks of a stream. the During its sojourn with us it is generally met with singly or in pairs, but Captain Mair gives the , m following interesting particulars of a summer flight :—“ Passing down the Hurukareao river at the Urewera country, during the intensely hot weather of February 1872, I was astonished mak®» number of Koheperoa that coursed about overhead. During the three days that we were , as mauy the passage, I saw some hundreds of them, swarming about in the air like large dragon-flies of their note® as twenty or thirty of them being sometimes associated together . The loud clamour river, an became at length quite oppressive. There was much dead timber on the banks of the the 0 it appeared to me that the birds were feasting on the large brown cicada. This is ^ occasion on which I have observed this bird consorting as it were in parties.” . Very little is at present known of the breeding-habits of this species. As I have mentiou forvvaid1 above, it is parasitical ; but to what extent is not yet fully determined. The theory put its young my former edition was, that it performs itself the duty of incubation, and then abandons support- the Grey Warbler , which instinctively accepts the charge and caters untiringly for its -tailed Cuck^ the first place it is difficult to conceive how a bird of the size and form of the Long that it ^ could deposit its eggs in the domed nest of the last-named species ; and even supposing again, it would seem almost a physical impossibility for so small a creature to hatch it ; and, could supp were this feasible, it is difficult to imagine how the frail tenement of a suspension nest was the sig® c the daily increasing weight of the young Cuckoo *. Over and above all this, there from a manuka bush closet ^ * Mr. Justice Gillies thus describesa nest of the Grey Warbler which he found depending October, and the nest contained four 000 r0 roadside, and about five feet from the ground, at the Bay of Islands (it was on the 7th diameter at its widest part. The side ap ^ “ It is of the shape of a soda-water bottle, eight inches in length by about four in a half inches across by about one is fully one-third way down from the twig on which it hung, and measured one and 131

^ ct that I had once shot an adult female in which the underparts were quite denuded of feathers, as the bird had been long incubating . Strange as such an hypothesis may appear, we are not altogether without a parallel instance in bird-history ; for in the case of the Chrysococcyx smaragdineus °f Western Africa, it is alleged that this Cuckoo hatches its single egg and then, utterly unmindful its parental obligations , casts the care of its offspring on a charitable public ; and that almost every passing bird, attracted by the piping cry of the deserted bantling , drops a caterpillar or other sweet Morselint° its imploring throat ! My artist, Mr. Keulemans , assures me that he often witnessed this . ‘mse lf during his residence on Prince’ s Island . As entirely opposed to this theory, however, there |s one undoubted case of an egg of this Cuckoo being hatched out by a Wood -Robin (Miro albifrons) ^ "whose nest it had been deposited . The young Cuckoo was removed by the finder and soon afterwards died *. 'fhe question arises, If it had been allowed to leave the nest, would the Robin have reared it, 01 Would she have delegated this task to the Grey Warbler 1 An egg forwarded to me some years ago by the Rev. R. Taylor, of Wanganui , as belonging to j'his species, is almost spherical in shape, with a slightly rough or granulate surface ; it is of a pale . “ 0r yellowish -brown colour, and measures 1‘25 inch in length by 1T5 in breadth. A specimen ^ the Canterbury Museum, taken by Mr. Smith from a Warbler’s nest at Oamaru, in November corresponds exactly with mine ( which is now in the Colonial Museum at Wellington ) except at it is slightly narrower.

PerPendicular . The upper portion of the nest somewhat overhangs the aperture , forming a sort of hood. The nest is composed °f twigSjgragSj CoW_hair , and greenish spider-nests , with a white eoral-like moss scattered over the outside . The eggs are ten SlXteenths of an inch in length by seven sixteenths of an inch greatest diameter , ovoid, of a faint pinkish colour , with small br°Wn spots, more numerous ^ the larger end of the egg.” The learned author continues “ How the Long-tailed Cuckoo (£ wdynamis taitensis) can, as stated by Dr . Puller (‘ ,’ p. 75), deposit its eggs in such a nest I can scarcely Un°r

CHEYSOCOCCYX LUCIDUS.

(SHINING CUCKOO.)

Shining Cuckoo, Lath . Gen. Syn. ii. p. 528 , pi. xxiii . (1782 ). Cuculus lucidus, Gm. Syst. Nat . i. p. 421 (1788 , ex Lath .). Variable Warbler, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl . ii. p. 250 (1801 ). Sylvia versicolora, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. ii . p. lvi (1801 ). Chalcites lucidus, Less. Traite d’Orn. p. 153 (1831 ). Cuculus nitens, Forst. Descr . Anim . p. 151 (1844 ). Cuculus versicolor, Gray, Gen. of B. ii. p. 463 (1847 ). Chrysococcyx lucidus, Gould, B. of Austr. iv. pi. 89 (1848 ). Cuculus chalcites, Illiger , MS. in Mus. Berol., undh Chrysococcyx chalcites, Licht . Nomencl . Av. p. 78 (1854 ). Lamprococcyx lucidus, Cab. & Heine , Mus. Hein . Th. iv. p. 14 (1862 ). Chrysococcyx plagosus , Hutton (nec Lath.), Trans. N .-Z. Inst . (1872 ), vol. v. p. 223 *.

Native names.

Warauroa, Pipiauroa , and Pipiwarauroa .

Ad . supra metallice viridis , seneo et cupreo nitens , supracaudalibus lateralibus late albo semifasciatis : fronte , super cilio distincto et facie laterali albo maculatis , viridi transfasciatis : loris mentoque albidis haud viridi notatis tectricibus alarum dorso concoloribus : remigibus brunneis , ad basin pogonii interni albidis, primariis eX^ seneo nitentibus , secundariis magis conspicue lavatis et pennis dorsalibus omnino dorso concoloribus : caU brunnea , seneo-viridi nitente , fascia anteapicali nigricante , rectricibus tribus exterioribus ad apicem p°» interni albo maculatis , penna extima albo conspicue fasciata , penultima in medio vix rufescente tin pectore et subalaribus albicantibus transversim seneo-viridi fasciatis : abdomine purius albo, hypochondr r ...... subcaudalibusque conspicub seneo-viridi transfasciatis : rostro nigro : pedibus brunnescenti -nigris, P pedum flavicantibus : iride nigra .

Juv . obscurior et sordidior , minus metallicus : tectricibus alarum brunneo marginatis : cauda nusquam rufescen gutture et pectore superiore fulvescenti -albis, fuscescenti -brunneo variis , vix viridi lavatis : corpore r subtus fulvescenti -albo, bypocbondriis et corporis lateribus fasciis interruptis metallice viridibus n° subcaudalibus maculis viridibus triquetris transnotatis .

Adult male. Upper parts bright golden green , changing to coppery purple in certain lights ; frontal tipped more or less with white ; superciliary streak formed of irregular whitish spots ; throat , sides of and fore part of neck white , with narrow broken bars of coppery green ; breast and underparts gelie white, with transverse bands of changing golden green , coppery brown in certain aspects ; on the ^ flanks, and under tail -coverts these bands are very regular and conspicuous , each feather being cross a. * “ Captain Hutton says that the Chatham-Island Bronze Cuckoo is not the same as the New-Zealand one, but is

of Australia, in which opinionI do not agree, after having compareda specimen from the Chatham Islands lent me by ^ wefl' Zealand Institute . The underparts showa little broader gold-green crossbands, and the second tail-feathers, instead of defined rusty bands, have only indications of them; but there is no other difference, and I see no reason to separate the Island bird from the New-Zealand C. lucidus.” (Finsch, Trans. N.-Z. Inst. vol. vii. p. 227.)

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THE SHINING CUCKOO . CHRYSOCOCCYX LUCIDUS .

(WITH YOUNG CUCKOO IN WARBLER 'S NEST .)

133

two broad, equidistant bars ; the lower part of the abdomen pure white ; quills dark brown, glossed with coppery brown, changing to bright golden green on the secondaries; with the exception of the three outer primaries, all the quills are yellowish white in the basal portion of the inner webs, forming a broad oblique bar on the under face of the wing ; under wing-coverts and axillary plumes indistinctly barred with coppery brown ; tail, when closed, bronzy green, with a broad subterminal band of purplish brown ; upper tail- coverts bright golden green, the lateral ones largely marked with white on their outer webs. On spreading the tail the outermost feather on each side is found to be blackish brown, with live broad white bars on the inner web, the fifth one being terminal, and with five irregular spots of white on the basal portion of the outer web ; the next feather blackish brown, slightly glossed with green, marked on the inner web with two obscure spots of rufous, darker brown towards the tip, and terminated by a round spot of white ; the succeeding one similar, but without the rufous markings, and with the terminal spot on the inner web much smaller ; and the median feathers coppery brown, glossed with green, and crossed by a darker subterminal har. Irides and bill black ; tarsi and toes brownish black ; soles of feet yellowish . Total length 7 inches ; extent of wings 11*75 ; wing, from flexure, 4 ; tail 2‘75 ; bill, along the ridge '5, along the edge of lower mandible '75 ; tarsus -5 ; longer fore toe and claw -8, longer hind toe and claw '65.

Young. Metallic tints of the upper parts duller ; upper wing-coverts edged with brown ; tail-feathers as in the adult, but with the rufous markings obsolete ; throat and fore part of neck yellowish white, clouded and mottled with dusky brown, faintly glossed with green ; underparts generally yellowish white, marked on the sides and flanks with fragmentary or interrupted bands of dull shining green ; the under tail-coverts crossed hy broad triangular spots of the same.

Here is nothing more delightful , on a sultry summer ’s day , than to recline in some cool shade and ln hale the sweet fragrance of the native woods. All is still and quiet save the hum of bees in the air and the loud drumming of the tarakihi as it clings to the bark overhead. Then there falls upon ear the well-known cry of the Koheperoa—not the vociferous scream of the early morning, but a sleepy cry—issuing from some lofty tree-top where the bird is resting during the heat of the day. r°m a neighbouring tree comes the full rich note of the Tui, uttered at short intervals like the slow 0 _mg of a silver bell ; then the low whistle of a Kaka calling to its mate to come and seek repose ^ hile the sun is at the meridian ; then all is still again, and nothing is heard but the soft murmur Hi sects in the air and the languid cry of a solitary Fantail as it flits around with full-spread wings "Hd tail, dancing from side to side, or the sweet trill of the Ngirungiru, full of pleasant associations. f Ut we are still listening, a new sound arrests the attention—a peculiar whistling cry, different . °m tbat of any other bird. This announces the arrival in our country of the Shining Cuckoo, an ^ ablla nt of Australia , and probably New Guinea *, which appears in New Zealand (also in Norfolk °nly as a summer migrant. Its cry is always welcomed by the colonists as the harbinger spnng ; an(i during its short stay with us its sweet but plaintive notes may be heard in every Ve throughout the long summer days. It makes its appearance, year after year, with surprising co CtUaHty’ arrivhig first in the extreme north, and about a fortnight later spreading all over the A correspondent informs me that for three successive years, at Whangarei (north of Auck- first heard its familiar note on the 21st September, and that on one occasion he noticed resul early as the 3rd of that month. Another correspondent, in the same locality, informs me, as the and 9°^ ^We^Ve yea rs’ careful observation, that this migrant invariably appears between the 17th WelH„ “ °f Somber . For a period of ten years I kept a register of its periodical arrival at Writeln^t0n’ anb_n°ted its regular occurrence between the 5th and 10th of October. Mr. Potts alth 1116^rom Canterbury that it generally arrives there on or about the 8th of October, Hsuall^ ^ °ne year (1855) it visited that part of the country as early as the 27th September. It y departs about the first or second week in January : but in the far north it sometimes lingers * Cf. Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. vol. iii. p. 256. 134 till the end of that month. As is always the case with migratory birds, there are occasionally stragglers arriving before the appointed time or lagging behind the departing flights. For example a I have a record"of their occurrence in Auckland as early as August 17th , and I have met with solitary bird in the south as late as April. This is undoubtedly the most tropical-looking of our birds. The glancing of the sunlight on its burnished plumage is very effective, especially, too, when the bird is seen resting on the bare stems of the quasi-tropical Cordyline, or feeding on the green-and-gold cicada, which is so abundant there *. “ cabbage-trees ” in * In JTew-Zealand scenery there is much to remind one of a tropical country. The scattered clumps of luxuriance of the evergreen the open and the nikau-palms in the deep wooded gullies have quite a tropical aspect, and the wild mere play of fancy, I will gi ve hush brings vividly to mind the rank prodigality of a Brazilian forest. To show that this is not a here a leaf from my own diary containing an account of a day at Bio de Janeiro :— , having spent “ We landed from the S.S. ‘ Tongariro’ at 9 a.m. on the 1st April, and came on hoard again before midnight , then up the principal a very pleasant day on shore. On landing, we walked through the market-place, which was interesting are overhanging* street, through which no wheeled vehicles are permitted to pass. The passage is narrow and the balconies multifarious exhibits giving it the appearance of a street in Constantinople. Many of the shops are most attractive in their street corner we took a feather-plumes, rare butterflies, and brilliant beetles being not the least interesting objects. At the fine public and private buil “ Then all along the line brilliant butterflies of every size and colour fluttered in the warm sunlight ; large black-and-gr 7 with a spread of six inches and of the richest metallic blue, hovered, hawk-like, among the trees forms of

During its sojourn with us it subsists almost exclusively on caterpillars, and the black leech which Stacks our fruit-trees. It is therefore entitled to a place among the really useful species. In disposition it is very gentle. On one occasion I was watching this bird from the window of my hotel, foraging in the garden below for caterpillars, while a brood of young Sparrows were doing *he same. Whilst the Cuckoo rested for a moment on a slanting stick, the Cock Sparrow dropped down till it almost touched him, as if to inspect his shining coat. The object of these attentions never left his perch, but simply swerved his body and spread his outer wing, without uttering a ^ nnd. J noticed that the young Sparrows were far more active in catching caterpillars than the ^ °koo, although both birds adopted the same plan of search, darting right into the shrub-tops and lri gmg out their victims to batter and kill them before swallowing. Its general attitude is that depicted in the Plate , with its tail half-spread and its wings drooping, ar tist having utilized a pencil-sketch which I made of a captive bird as it rested quietly on the Paper-basket in my study. loi Its cry is a remarkable one, as the bird appears to be endowed with a peculiar kind of ventri- to'lursm. It consists of eight or ten long silvery notes quickly repeated . The first of these appears thecome from a considerable distance ; each successive one brings the voice nearer, till it issues from ' sPot where the performer is actually perched, perhaps only a few yards off. It generally winds P with a confused strain of joyous notes, accompanied by a stretching and quivering of the wings, ^ pressive, it would seem, of the highest ecstasy. The cry of the young birds is easily distinguished, eing very weak and plaintive *. ^ I had a young bird brought to me as late as the 15th February . It appeared to be in vigorous ^ with the membrane at the angles of the mouth still visible ; and on being approached by any Would open its mouth in an imploring sort of way, but without making any sound. a Dike the Long-tailed Cuckoo already described, this species is parasitic in its breeding-habits, en trusts to a stranger both the hatching and the rearing of its young. little Grey Warbler (Gerygone flaviventris ) is the customary victim ; but exceptional cases f been recorded where the duty was entrusted to the South-Island (Myiomoira macro- la) ; and Captain Mair assures me that he once saw the young of this species attended and fed ^ 0larna ko (Anthornis melanura). Dr. Bennett, writing of the same bird in Australia, states f has Die Shining Cuckoo has been found in the nest of Acanthiza chrysorhina, and that he Se en a nest of this bird with five eggs, that of the Cuckoo being deposited in the centre of the be i S° aS to ensure its receiving the warmth imparted by the sitting bird, and thus less likely to dll ' Dle aD° narrates the following circumstance:—“ A White -shafted Flycatcher (Bhipidura lvhe WaS sbot at near Sydney, in the act of feeding a solitary young bird in its nest, which, exaiwined, was found to be the chick of the Bronze Cuckoo of the colonists. It was ea tire°US t0 observe this large and apparently well-fed bird filling up with its corpulent body the Mnest, receiving daily the sustenance intended for several young Flycatchers.” Ducko ^ omson recoralways in full feather, but absolutely songless. This I regard as a very curious fact.” t ]q r rj,j|n°S a Naturalist in Australasia, p. 207. 0mpson states, further, that in Otago, Gerygone flaviventris, Myiomoira macrocephala, and Zoster ops ccerulescens. 136

As it is usual to find the Cuckoo's egg associated with those of the Grey Warbler , we may reason¬ ably infer that the visitor simply deposits its egg for incubation without displacing the existing ones- But the young Cuckoo is generally found to be the sole tenant of the nest ; and the followin» circumstance, related to me by the Rev. R. Taylor, sufficiently proves that the intruder ejects the rightful occupants and takes entire possession. He discovered the nest of a Grey Warbler in h,s garden-shrubbery containing several eggs, and among them a larger one, which he correctly assigned to the Shining Cuckoo. In due time all the eggs were hatched ; but after the lapse of a day or two the young Cuckoo was the sole tenant of the nest, and the dead bodies of the others were found lyino on the ground below. At length the usurper left the nest, and for many days after both of the foster-parents were incessantly on the wing, from morning till night , catering for the inordinate appetite of their charge, whose constant piping cry served only to stimulate their activity. Since the above was written , I have had an opportunity of examining a young Cuckoo in possession, and it exhibits a droll phase of bird-life, the intruder occupying the entire cavity of the nest, with its head protruding from the opening. I have received from Mr. W . W . Smith, of Oamaru, some interesting notes from his diaiy ’ showing how inevitably the young Warblers , in the struggle for existence , must succumb to the more vigorous intruder. The egg of the Shining Cuckoo is of a broad ovato-elliptical form, generally of a greenish-white or very pale olive colour, often clouded or stained with brownish grey, and measuring "8 of an m in length by '5 in breadth. One taken by myself, many years ago, from the nest of a Grey Warbleij in the manuka scrub, on what is now the site of a flourishing city, was of a pale creamy colour ; <■ another, which was laid by a captive bird in my possession, is pure white . A specimen in the .Otaff^ Museum is broadly elliptical in form, measures -7 of an inch in length by -5 in breadth, and is 0 ^ uniform dull olivaceous grey inclining to brown. Of two specimens in my son’s collection °ne rather more elliptical in form and of a uniform olivaceous brown, somewhat paler at the smaller e ^ the other (which came from the Chatham Islands) is pale olivaceous grey, perceptibly darker at larger end, and very minutely granulated with brown over the entire surface.

are the usual foster-parents . Mr . Gould records that , in Australia , the task of incubation is often delegated to the Tell °ff Acanthiza , and adds, “ I have several times taken the egg of the Cuckoo from the nest of this bird , and also the young. be latter case the parasitical bird was the sole occupant .” Mr. Potts reports (Journ . of Science, ii. p. 477 ) that at Ohinit found an egg of this species in the nest of Zosterops cceruleseens, together with three eggs of the dupe . He enumerates ^ instances , between Oct. 28 and Jan . 6, of its being found in the nest of Gerygone flaviventris . Generally there were r ^ ^ to three eggs of the dupe in the nest ; in two cases (Dec. 18 and Jan . 6) the Cuckoo egg only ; and in three other cases Dec. 23, and Jan . 1) the young Cuckoo only. He states further that he has in his possession an egg of this bird taken nest of Gerygone dlbofrontata at the Chatham Islands . tb® * “ Oct. 7th . Found a nest of Gerygone flaviventris , with four small eggs and one much larger . The latter I take ^ egg of the Shining Cuckoo ( Chrysococcyxlucidus). Left the nest , intending to return in a few days. 11th . Visited ^ jjed> The Grey Warbler flew out when I approached . Five eggs still all right . 21st . Still unhatched . 24th . Two young °ne‘ ^ jar ge one egg lying on the ground outside the nest , containing chick quite cold and dead. 25th . Three young ones in ^ 0ng of th .jjy, eSg unhatched . 26th . Large egg hatched —a chick of the Shining Cuckoo ; very clumsy in nest , lying on top the Warblers . 30th . Found one dead chick lying on the ground ; two young Warblers still alive ; young Cuckoo groWing^ ^ jeJ.s being now nearly large enough to fill the nest itself ; beak and legs fairly well developed. Nov. 2nd. One of the young^ utl(jer' lying dead in nest , the other alive. Young Cuckoo has now its eyes open ; signs of feathers on the neck and wings> oa cbe^- parts of the body perfectly hare . 5th . Visited nest again . Young Cuckoo thrust out its head to receive food when I aPP Lifted the surviving young Warbler out of the nest , and found it very feeble. 6th . Young Cuckoo lying with ^ froi0 opening of nest , having taken full possession. Its lifeless companion was lying underneath , having apparently -[Qtb- starvation . 8th . Found young Cuckoo almost ready to leave its cradle . Brought both nest and bird home with o^ Thriving well, being fed on small worms , grubs , flies, spiders, and very small pieces of lean meat . 15th . Has now ^ grcd- of nest ; eats largely three times a day, but does not care for meat ; increasing rapidly in size. 20th . Nearly Placed it in a cage, but it looks sickly. 21st . Young Cuckoo died. Proved , on skinning , to be a male bird .