Photo by W. Saville-Kent, f.Z.S.] [Milford-on-Sea.

BLACK COCKATOO.

Found in pairs in thick forests.

The HANGING-PARROTS are about the same size as the well-known " love-birds," and remarkable for their habit of sleeping suspended head-downwards by one foot from the boughs of trees. They are all brilliantly coloured birds, and have a fairly wide range, extending from India and the Philippines through the Malay region as far east as Duke of York Island. The Australian BUDGERIGARS, or GRASS- PARRAKEETS, need no description here; but it is interesting to note that nearly allied to Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green. them is a small species known as the SWAMP- COCKATOO. or LONG-TAILED GROUND-PARRAKEET. As its Cockatoos in a wild state often congregate in immense flocks.

Parrots, Cuckoos, and Plantain-eaters 491

I'holo by Ottomar Anschiitz] [.Berlin.

LEADBEATEK'S COCKATOO.

Has a, red crest, banded with yellow and tipped with white. name implies, it is a ground-dwelling species, and, in accordance with this habit, has considerably longer legs than the tree-haunting species. This lengthening of the leg in arboreal species is seen also among pigeons and many other birds.

The most interesting, perhaps, of all the parrots is the remarkable KAKAPO, or OWL-PAHROT, of New Zealand. Like the species just described, it is also a ground-dweller; furthermore, it differs from all other members of the tribe in being flightless, and, like the flightless members of the Ostrich Tribe, has completely lost the deep keel from the breast-bone, which gives support to the muscles which move the wings. It is a large bird, green in colour, mottled with yellow and black, and derives its name of Owl-parrot from the fact that the feathers of the face radiate from the eye outwards to form a kind of disk. When eating grass, it is said to graze, nibbling after the fashion of a rabbit. Occasionally it is said to climb trees, descending with extended wings, so as to break the force of its career. It has been described as a playful and affectionate pet in captivity, displaying also great cleverness and intelligence. Unfortunately it is growing more and more rare, so that its final extermination is only a question of time the ravages of dogs, cats, and pigs, introduced by the settlers, being mainly the agents of destruction. is now restricted to the Once common all over New Zealand, the range of the owl-parrot mountainous regions of North Island and the northern half of South Island. During the day it remains concealed in the holes in rocks or under roots of trees, and if disturbed is difficult to rouse. When taken from its retreat, it runs swiftly, and tries to hide, seeking shelter, if possible, under a heap of soft, dry grass. At sunset, however, it becomes very animated, and travels at least when possible in companies, making tracks a foot or more wide across the herbage. It feeds greedily upon mosses, ferns, seeds, berries, and, it is said, even lizards, giving vent, when devouring some favourite morsel, to a kind of grunting noise.

of the World The Living Animals492 The kakapo nests in holes under trees and rocks, laying two or three eggs, which, like those of the Parrots, are white. The natives take advantage of its feeble powers of flight, hunting it on foot by torchlight, aided by dogs, which, it is said, are not seldom seriously wounded by the powerful bill.

is When the breeding-season over, these birds appear to live in small communities, four or five occupying the same hole. They are apparently gifted with some foresight, inasmuch as they lay up a store of food, to be drawn upon during bad weather.

CUCKOOS AND PLANTAIN-EATERS.

The Cuckoo Tribe is somewhat unfortunate in that the numerous members of which it is composed are completely overshadowed by the prominence which has been given to the COMMON CUCKOO. Few birds, indeed, have managed to secure so much attention, the poet in particular having sung its praises without stint. This enthusiasm undoubtedly is but an echo of the general popular senti-

Photo by C. Reid] [ Withaw, N.B. ment, for there are few birds to MACAW. which we in Britain extend a more The flight of these gorgeously clad birds is very powerful. hearty welcome, its well-known cry possessing a peculiar charm for lovers of the country. Coming to us in April, and leaving again in July, its stay is of the shortest; but during the greater part of this time its whereabouts may generally be known by the familiar call "cuckoo, cuckoo," though undergoing certain characteristic changes as the months glide by. Apart from its song, one of the most interesting things concerning the cuckoo is the fact that it goes about in disguise the disguise pf the ass in the lion's skin with a vengeance; for it is clothed in the garb of that terror of the countryside, the sparrow-hawk. Nay, more; it has also most successfully imitated the flight of that bogy; and this to frighten little birds not, however, for the mere purpose of creating consternation amongst them, but for far more sinister ends. is a responsibility which Somehow or another, in cuckoo society, the rearing of a family is utterly repudiated. Great pains seem to have been taken to evade this duty, and yet to ensure the continuity of their distinguished house. The oviparous method of reproduction, which obtains in the feathered world, has been turned to good account in fact, everything depends upon this. It seems to have suggested itself as far more convenient to drop an egg here and there into a neighbour's nursery, and leave the work of bringing it to life to the owners thereof. But to carry out this system of distributing foundlings requires tact,

Photo by Kerry & Co.] [Sydney.

BLUE MOUNTAIN-PARROTS.

A honey-eating species.

493

Photo by J. Peat Millar] [Seitk.

YOUNG CUCKOO EJECTING EGG.

The egg is held in position by the head and wings.

cunning, and the mutual co-operation of both the male and his at least temporary wife; is for the male to hoverhence the disguise. The plan of execution very frequently adopted over the treasure-house of the intended foster-parents hawk-wise. This is sure to call forth an attack from the poor little wretches threatened, which ends in an apparently hasty retreat of is the coast clear, however, thanthe marauder, followed by his fearless assailants. No sooner the wily female, taking her egg in her beak, slips quietly up to the nest and deposits her burden. is that of the modest little hedge- Let us imagine that this home so lately threatened sparrow, and take a peep during the absence of the owners, after quiet has established itself once again. Lying side by side with the tiny sky-blue eggs of the hedge-sparrow we should

!find the relatively large, greyish-green or reddish-grey egg of the cuckoo. What a contrast If the hedge-sparrows notice this too, they evidently do not mind, for they invariably hatch it with their own. But some birds are not so accommodating as this, and would ruthlessly destroy or reject any egg surreptitiously introduced into the nest. Consequently more deception has to be practised. The hawk-like garb still serves its purpose to draw off the intended dupes from the nest; but this is not enough, for to deposit an egg of the normal cuckoo type would be worse than useless, since it would meet with instant destruction on the return of the owners of the nest. But the cuckoo,.strange to say, has proved equal to the occasion, and meets the difficulty by laying an egg to match those in the nest. The Redstart, Wagtail, Sedge-warbler, Red-backed Shrike, and Meadow-pipit may be cited as instances of shall we say exclusive? birds which must be circumvented by " colourable imitations." Perhaps the most wonderful.of the cuckoo successes in this direction is the imitation of the redstart's egg, which is blue. Naturally these facts have given rise to much speculation, but even now we cannot regard the discussion as finally settled. Some ornithologists held that the egg of every individual cuckoo was subject to great variations, and that the place of deposit of each egg was determined

Parrots, Cuckoos, and Plantain^eaters 495 only after the bird had ascertained its colour. If this were true, surely we should find blue cuckoos' eggs in hedge-sparrows' as well as redstarts' nests. But we don't! Others have sought to explain the existence of mimicking eggs to the influence of the food peculiar to the foster-parent upon the germ of the young female cuckoo, which, through this channel, became transmitted to all its descendants. To support this hypothesis it was necessary to throw overboard the old individual variability explanation, and to adopt one that is certainly nearer the truth to wit, that each cuckoo chooses the nest of that species in which itself was reared as a depository, in turn, for its own egg, and only when such is not available will it select some other species, and trust to luck for its adoption. This would certainly account for many anomalies; but as it seems that there are more eggs unlike than like those of the selected foster-parents, it cannot be a perfect explanation.

A third explanation takes that part of the second for granted which assumes that cuckoos select nests of the species which served them as foster-parents, and explains the mimicry, when this occurs, as due to the results of natural selection.

Our interest, however, in the domestic economy of the common cuckoo is not to be allowed to drop with the incubation of the egg. The perfidy of the parents seems to have cast a sombre shadow over the cradle of the offspring, an evil spell destined to bear fruit with terrible suddenness; for the young, before it is many hours old, and while yet blind and ! There is no case herenaked, perpetrates its first act of wrong-doing by committing murder of wilful or ignorant misrepresentation and slander, such as many of our feathered friends are made to suffer at our hands no foolish prejudice such as has blasted the reputation of some of our most guiltless and useful of bird-citizens. The witnesses of the crime of which we speak

:are many and unimpeachable. The facts are as follows

The parent cuckoo deposits her egg in the nest of some other bird with those of the owners thereof. All are hatched. In a few hours after the arrival of the young cuckoo the foster-brothers and -sisters invariably disappear, and are not seldom found in the immediate is certain; butneighbourhood of the nest. That they must have been removed by force this force cannot be attributed to the natural parents. The evidence of the first witnesses, therefore, was worthy of all consideration; and since their accounts have been frequently

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