• Shining Cuckoo, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii. p. 528, pl. 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. 250 (1801).

• Chalcites lucidus, Less. Traité 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. pl. 89 (1848).

• Cuculus chalcites, Illiger, MS. in Mus. Berol., undè

• 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. suprà metallicè viridis, æneo et cupreo nitens, supracaudalibus lateralibus latè albo semifasciatis: fronte, supercilio distincto et facie lateral albo maculatis, viridi transfasciatis: loris mentoque albidis haud viridi notatis: tectricibus alarum dorso concoloribus: remigibus brunneis, ad basin pogonii interni albidis, primariis extùs æneo nitentibus, secundariis magis conspicuè lavatis et pennis dorsalibus omninò dorso concoloribus: caudâ brunneâ, æneo-viridi nitente, fasciâ anteapicali nigricante, rectricibus tribus exterioribus ad apicem pogonii interni albo maculatis, pennâ extimâ albo conspicuê fasciatâ, penultimâ in medio vix rufescente tinctâ: pectore et subalaribus albicantibus transversim æneo-viridi fasciatis: abdomine puriùs albo, hypochondriis subcaudalibusque conspicuè æneo-viridi transfasciatis: rostro nigro: pedibus brunnescenti-nigris, plantis pedum flavicantibus: iride nigrâ.

Juv. obscurior et sordidior, minùs metallicus: tectricibus alarum brunneo marginatis: caudâ nusquam rufescente: gutture et pectore superiore fulvescenti-albis, fuscescenti-brunneo variis, vix viridi lavatis: corpore reliquo subtùs fulvescenti-albo, hypochondriis et corporis lateribus fasciis interruptis metallicè viridibus notatis: subcaudalibus maculis viridibus triuetris transnotatis.

Adult male. Upper parts bright golden green, changing to coppery purple in certain lights; frontal feathers tipped more or less with white; superciliary streak formed of irregular whitish spots; throat, sides of head, and fore prat of neck white, with narrow broken bars of coppery green; breast and underparts generally white, with transverse bands of changing golden green, coppery brown in certain aspects; on the sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts these bands are very regular and conspicuous, each, feather being crossed by

^* “Captain Hutton says that the Chatham-Island Bronze Cuckoo is not the same as the New-Zealand one, but is C. plagosus of Australia, in which opinion I do not agree, after having compared a specimen from the Chatham Islands lent me by the New-Zealand Institute. The underparts show a little broader gold-green crossbands, and the second tail-feathers, instead of two welldefined rusty bands, have only indications of them; but there is no other difference, and I see no reason to separate the Chatham 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 WARBLERS NEST.)

page breakpage 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 five 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 bar. 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 by broad triangular spots of the same.

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^*.

During its sojourn with us it subsists almost exclusively on caterpillars, and the black leech which attacks 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 the 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 sound. I noticed that the young Sparrows were far more active in catching caterpillars than the Cuckoo, although both birds adopted the same plan of search, darting right into the shrub-tops and bringing 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, my artist having utilized a pencil-sketch which I made of a captive bird as it rested quietly on the paper-basket in my study.

Its cry is a remarkable one, as the bird appears to be endowed with a peculiar kind of ventriloquism. It consists of eight or ten long silvery notes quickly repeated. The first of these appears to come from a considerable distance; each successive one brings the voice nearer, till it issues from the spot where the performer is actually perched, perhaps only a few yards off. It generally winds up with a confused strain of joyous notes, accompanied by a stretching and quivering of the wings, expressive, it would seem, of the highest ecstasy. The cry of the young birds is easily distinguished, being very weak and plaintive^*.

I had a young bird brought to me as late as the 15th February. It appeared to be in vigorous health, with the membrane at the angles of the mouth still visible; and on being approached by any one would open its mouth in an imploring sort of way, but without making any sound.

Like the Long-tailed Cuckoo already described, this species is parasitic in its breeding-habits, and entrusts to a stranger both the hatching and the rearing of its young.

The little Grey Warbler (Gerygone flaviventris) is the customary victim; but exceptional cases have been recorded where the duty was entrusted to the South-Island Tomtit (Myiomoira macrocephala); and Captain Mair assures me that he once saw the young of this species attended and fed by a Korimako (Anthornis melanura). Dr. Bennett, writing of the same bird in Australia, states^† that the egg of the Shining Cuckoo has been found in the nest of Acanthiza chrysorhina, and that he has seen a nest of this bird with five eggs, that of the Cuckoo being deposited in the centre of the group, so as to ensure its receiving the warmth imparted by the sitting bird, and thus less likely to be addled. He also narrates the following circumstance:—“A White-shafted Flycatcher (Rhipidura albiscapa) was shot at Ryde, near Sydney, in the act of feeding a solitary young bird in its nest, which, when examined, was found to be the chick of the Bronze Cuckoo of the colonists…… It was ludicrous to observe this large and apparently well-fed bird filling up with its corpulent body the entire nest, receiving daily the sustenance intended for several young Flycatchers.”

Mr. G. M. Thomson records in the ‘Journal of Science’ (vol. ii. p. 576) that an egg of this Cuckoo was found on November 5th in a House-Sparrow’s nest which had been built in a large bramble-bush and which contained besides three legitimate eggs. He describes it as being “10 lines long, of very thin texture, and much paler than usual, being of a pale greenish white feebly marked with pale brown spots and markings”^‡

As it is usual to find the Cuckoo’s egg associated with those of the Grey Warbler, we may reasonably 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 following 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 his 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 lying 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 diary^*, 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 inch in length by ·5 in breadth. One taken by myself, many years ago, from the nest of a Grey Warbler, in the manuka scrub, on what is now the site of a flourishing city, was of a pale creamy colour; and another, which was laid by a captive bird in my possession, is pure white. A specimen in the Otago Museum is broadly elliptical in form, measures ·7 of an inch in length by ·5 in breadth, and is of a uniform dull olivaceous grey inclining to brown. Of two specimens in my son’s collection one is rather more elliptical in form and of a uniform olivaceous brown, somewhat paler at the smaller end; the other (which came from the Chatham Islands) is pale olivaceous grey, perceptibly darker at the larger end, and very minutely granulated with brown over the entire surface.