WONDERS OF THE WILD

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1002, 17 December 1910, Page 6

WONDERS OF THE WILD

U tfl BIRD BULLY AND ITS VICTIMS, ■; SHINING CUCICOO, THE rAEASITE. (By Will L.uvsox.) ; Ej'r;!: . (All rights reserved.)

..'On the higher twigs !of .a thick manuka ! bush that was shut, in by- taller trees, i ■a. pair .of 'grey warblers whistled and ' played. The sunlight of late August • • sparkled upon all 'the Lush and scrub,, :. the'air was clear, the sky, blue, and, '.greater cause for joy than even :these : sniiles of Nature, the grey warblers had just completed tlio building -of their nejt. 'It swung suspended from a supple manuka twig,:y'et.it might not swing too .wide: because !ot slight fastenings which (held-it to: surrounding sprays and twigs. It was a triumph of engineering -work, - and the little, engineers'..in ' grey, had : cause for,: their rejoicing.! 1 In shape'.the« nest , rather resembred a .>• Bods-water-bottle..'lt was. eight .--inches' : from ' top to. bottom, arid four... inches across, and it was. -woven liko. felt, from smaU pieces, of moss, ".wool, "down, and feathers, with cobwebs and pieces of to help. The.entrance was at the . side—a very small entrance about an inch and a half wide and one inch in .height. Still it was big enough for the little grey warblers, whose white throats andrbreasts and white-spotted tails flashed and flirted' there in the" sunlight. .The inside of the nest was soft and'warm and roomy,' and fu .' September had como, and . gone thero were four eggs, in the nest, . white eggs'with-pink, spots all over them. The V grey -warblers sat on thesi>, : their family ::3?««brjr°,with.great.assiduity.' In their ; 'little _haven in the Ijusli they seemed as 6afo . from intrusion and interference as .anything could possibly' be. - ■ ■. ■ But' one afternoon',' soon after the last fSS.-was laid, .'a, new bird-voice sounded -}!* the 1 glade^a.very sweet voice that sang ' Wiethe sings in-.the cascades., And the owner-of the voice was a. shining cuckoo.' On] the bough of-a'tree'near the , .warblers nest tho • newcomer showed- her . splendid plumage in tho sunlight-a _blaze of bronze green shining with metal- ?, ust -?"O i and -barred oil- head and breast with wmte,;and. brown; a bold, -arrogant ford, as- became' a .traveller .from the -tropics, .and more - than twice tlio size .ot a grev _warbler. .At sight and .sound or the cuckoo, the small birds in the surrounding bush.grew uneasy in their movements,, and.anxious in mind. Some came ,to took and criticise I'the cuckoo, but sho . took no notice ofrthem '■• at •'■ all. . For several davs .she stayed" about , that glade, l • t ii - that the little swinging jest of the grey, warblers would ' serve her purpose. .When 'she flew round it on a visit of inspection,'the little builders and i owners dashed here and there in high excitement, even .making pretence of,attacking - the larger bird:; . .Filially . the cuckoo settled on the. grassy ground, and there sho. laid her -one egg. Her purpose in domg.-so was ovident when slio took the egg, brown-coloured, which was three- - quarters, of, ; ah., inch long, in her mouth, 'holding it in the swell of-her throat, and flew up to. the small opening in. the warblers,.: nest. With, strong wings beatwg the . air, and . claw?, just clinging to tho nest-side, .she thrust'her head into ..the nest and. dropped the egg as gently, as,she cpuld into the' cavity where the four white eggs were lying. All the time the warblers were., 'crying and flving' ' about.her, making,protest against the in-: OTsion. Other .birds gathered, too,' for tho. cuckoo : is.the: freak bird of the forest, at nesting-time, "and always -. has her was.safelv. :2®?° t - he ■ ■ jStaMfc '- cuckoo dashed : i j 5, .. Vi 1 - s^reak- -of :blazing copper. lAnd - she did not- return. Her duty, as fe SA' \ a r w',' Th ® warblers; inth their troubles - just beginning, settled dpwn again to . household duties. Thev fctv' : tho: worrving, , .rand,., they took the. strange egg under tteir wings, and left the rest.to Nature-; , ? dw : ,ihe white and pinkil -. eggs .began to hatch,' - Three youncr warblers came into,the world, and one e»<» was thrown -out npon th 6 ground as i"! brown' 1 egg was £ mi 1' .Two days later the -ijrown, shell/ burst,., and '..a 'big:chick sprawled . out... upon .the-'-little warblerias, it was. hatched, the cuckoo rtf l \- f( s oa ' - Ne f' day- two of the . warbler chicks : were, thrown out • 5 e • g -l°, pnd C an( ! tlle cuckoo had »nlged visibly. It quite, covered the other [two chicks, tand it still cried for food. parent warblers toiled incessantlv • .VWth-oi .her .bett bne of them ,would. fly:to the nest, where the.shining •cuckoo chick lay - with gaping mouth' for-food. - As; the warbler approached, cuckoo's, head moved from ■ Bide to side, as a hawk's dees. Then the worm was offered and gulped down, andthe cnes for food, began again: Tho Dg ¥ d th ,° ncst all to itself V- lts ftipe had spread through tee bird conimunity... All day long there mnm; "f spectators at' the cere- ' A thafc nover epded. Somefames the . birds crowded. close in upon' the cuckoo, hut;, like his mother the - S ib l , Pa j d ?°' he:e<l to -them-onlv cried out for food. Before-he was full grown,- ho squeezed out: of the-.nest and . K.t upon bough.near, -by,:waiting to : : t Soon •feathers of his. wings E? and he essaved flights that took him nowhere in particular. .He at .demanded .food, and the warblers still worked; all day-to'feed him. As' the .cuckoo s plumage, grew, something' of his mother s splendid colours began' I st '- ?, rcss - , But '"s was duller than hers,.and- the. bands"'of brown and. white across' his. breast were more / numerous, and not,-so' distinct. »At last ; a-.day.'when the",'warblers washed-their "hands ;°f-. him. - 'They 'had" duty just.. .as welT" v as ''his : and, in addition, they Jiad . sacrificed- their whole family for .this, one- birds-.;yeti- on the! whole,' they appeared proud of .their foster-:-:an? they joined; the . group" of small birds which followed tlio young shining cuckoo about wherever he Avent. But they fed him no more, and presently took up again the burden of-their household, and > the rearing' of. a- familv to replace those the'cuckoo had killed."The shining/cuckoo left the' scene'of his birth and upbringing early... one- misty morning,s\yhen. the notes of the tui were awalcenuig ' the; echoes across the .broad vaUey. »Ho'flo.w swiftly, ami occasionally the watcher:.would have seen a; dint of : bronze ;in .his plumage. There was. such a watcher, abroad that- morning., a man wtli a :'h?ht '.in ivis hand. jl.e saw tlie -shining cuckoo flit ■ past a and;swerve over his garden, : and the plum'aw. of tho "bird-gleamed n s he- swerved. '"A shining, cuckoo,"'cried the man.-- He raised his. gun o.id took a shot: as the' cuckoo was dropping to , Test on. a - tree. At .the. orash 'of the .giin . and ; the whistling shot, the bird leaped into the air again, and sped away tmhurl'. '.'And thereafter, he. was Wary; . lesson stood: him, in- good stead. - , , the'glorious, summer , hod lo.t «' th ,° K ol ' l °f «ie harvest! . fields, had turned- to 'the yellow, of .'.the . stacks, the > shining cuckoo met with . others of his' kind-one' was'his mother, though neither he. nor .4he Icnew it. And - very eajly one morning the. small' (lock ot wayfarers took iving on their'lorn : Journey ■ to. the. northward.- •. . Over ..the .Tasman'.'Sea arid tho' loni* , [ar-stretching lands of Australia, right Pt? ' IPar t. of the tropics they went ' following t)ie, summer. And the vounn shining cuckoo, now a full-grown "bird! ; wUh-the bronze and green all gloaming w his .plumage.'flew as. strongly as tho , best, a gay bird. of nleasure, with never thought for the- little grey warblers' ■■■; left behind to shiver through winter .-nights.