far

It is thought by some naturalists to be highly probable that the food eaten by birds during the nesting period has much to do with the future coloration of their eggs, and, if such be the case, it goes to explain the similarity between the eggs of many species of cuckoos and those of their foster parents, for it follows that the latter would rear the alien chicks upon the same food on which they would have fed their own offspring. The stomach of a female bronze cuckoo (C. plagosus) shot at Olinda Creek last September was found, on dissection, to contain the remains of a number of the large green caterpillars of the cup moth (Pelora) and the emperor gun moth (Antherea eucalypti). In the oviduct was a soft-shelled egg, on which the beautiful bronze-green tint characterizing the eggs of this species was just becoming visible. I have watched closely several young bronze cuckoos being fed by blue wrens and various species of Acanthize, and in many instances have noticed that the devoted little nurses were attempting to satisfy the voracious appetites of their charges with lepidopterous larvæ of a greenish hue.

With reference to a recently made suggestion that the action of the infant cuckoo in ejecting its nest fellows is purely automatic," rhythmic, and governed by external stimuli or reflex action, I still cling to the belief that the process is referable to hereditary instinct or subconscious memory, aided by dawning reason. I am strengthened further in my conclusions by comparing notes with other ornithologists in various parts of the world. Mr. Edward Step, F. L. S., in his essay on "The Cuckoo," distinctly stated that "shortly after birth the young cuckoo shows that it has inherited the knowledge that its foster parents will have all they can manage to satisfy its own wants, and that the presence of nest fellows means overcrowding and inevitable death for the majority, should they be allowed to remain." My friend, Mr. W. Percival Westell, M. B. O. U., a well-known British ornithologist who has devoted years of study to elucidating the habits and life history of the European cuckoo (C. canorus), writes that his observations lead him to credit the blind nestling with hereditary reasoning powers, and that he agrees almost entirely with my theories on the subject as set forth in a previous paper published in The Emu, Vol. 5, Part 1, July, 1905. Mr. Westell has been kind enough to forward me copies of his series of remarkable cuckoo photographs, which were exhibited recently before the Royal Society of Great Britain.

I was fortunate enough to witness a miniature combat between a narrow-billed bronze cuckoo nestling and a baby blue wren, which took place in a nest of the last-named species at Olinda Creek in November, 1904. A snapshot of the struggle by Mr. C. P. Kinane

a The Emu, Vol. 5, p. 145.

has already appeared in The Emu. The actions of the blind, featherless, infant cuckoo on this occasion certainly showed no sign of being due to reflex action, but on the contrary appeared to me a marvelous and almost uncanny exhibition of instinct and subconscious reasoning. If it be objected that the term instinct is meaningless, I can only reply that there are many things in nature to which we attach convenient labels, although they still remain beyond our understanding.

a Vol. 5, Part 1, July, 1905.

SOME REMARKS ON THE PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCE

OF SOUTH AFRICAN BIRDS."

[With 2 plates.]

By ALWIN HAAGNER, F. Z. S., M. B. O. U.

In this article it is my intention to give a short general sketch of this subject, dealing chiefly with those families with which I have had some field experience, supplemented by a few of the more striking instances in detail.

It is greatly to be regretted that hitherto local ornithologists have paid so little attention to this interesting branch of research, and it is sincerely hoped that the contents of this paper may stimulate their activity toward further observations.

Order PASSERES.

Family PLOCEIDÆ.

At first sight one would be inclined to think that there was very little protective resemblance in this family, containing, as it does, some of the most gorgeously plumaged of South African birds; but this is, perhaps, the most interesting part of it. It is a very noteworthy fact that with the majority of the smaller and defenseless species the female is almost always a most inconspicuous object, with a somber-colored feathering, and generally manages to pass unobserved among its surroundings. On the other hand, the males are often very gaudily attired, which is true of a large number of the Ploceida. This is the case with the bishop birds (Pyromelana), the males of which may be numbered among South Africa's most beautiful birds, while the females are little brown-colored objects, whose coloration, blending, as it does, with the grass and reeds of their favorite haunts, renders them almost invisible to the casual eye. The same remarks apply to the widow birds (Viduinæ). Can anyone imagine anything more conspicuous than the long-tailed widow bird (Coliopasser procne), or even the smaller red-collared species (C. ardens)?

a Reprinted by permission from The Journal of the South African Ornithologists' Union, Pretoria, Transvaal, vol. 4, No. 1. April, 1908.

Yet their spouses are the very opposite, resembling the females of the Pyromelana in their somber dress, which is of very material assistance to them among the long grass of the veld, and especially so in the nesting season. During the winter months, when the cock birds have doffed their showy attire, they have the same advantage as the females of an inconspicuous plumage. This is also the case with regard to the pin-tailed widow (Vidua principalis) and the remainder of the species of Vidua; also the red-billed weaver (Quelea quelea).

One of the reasons for the gaudy attire of the males, or rather lack of protective coloring, may be the more or less polygamous habits these birds are accredited with. An interesting case is that of the little scaly-feathered weaver (Sporopipes squamifrons), which is a denizen of bushy country, where its light-brown plumage lends itself admirably toward the concealment of the bird; even during the winter months, when the camel thorns and mimosas (Acacia giraffe and A. horrida) are devoid of leaves, their inconspicuous dress is of enormous value in aiding them to find a hiding place. The second subfamily, the Estrildinæ, is a large one, containing those well-known little birds called rooibekkies (from the color of their bills) and tinktinkies (from their call). Two of the commoner species of Estrelda, the red-breasted and black-faced waxbills (E. astrilda and E. erythronota), may be said to possess protective resemblance in a fairly welldeveloped degree. Although they have conspicuous colors relieving the brown tint of their plumage, they are nevertheless very inconspicuous when feeding on the ground among the short grass on the partly bare patches of old lands and alongside roads (their favorite haunts), as the brighter portions of their plumage are then hidden. Their upper surface, which is of a very assimilative color, blends with the bird's surroundings to such an extent that to walk among a flock of them, and suddenly flush them from almost under one's feet, is a

common occurrence.

To a certain extent these remarks also apply to the orange-breasted species (E. clarkei), affecting the banks of spruits, etc., and grassy slopes of damp localities; they are most inconspicuous little birds, notwithstanding the bright colors which relieve the olive brown of their upper parts. Perhaps the best-endowed member of the subfamily, so far as assimilative coloration is concerned, is the little barbreasted weaver finch (Ortygospiza polyzona), which has only a white chin and a black throat to relieve the buff and brown tints of its feathering.

Family FRINGILLIDÆ,

Before I pass on to the next family I would like to briefly refer to the cape and rock buntings. The former (Fringillaria capensis), me and pleasing little bird, was fairly common around Aliwal