The flight of these gorgeously clad birds is very powerful.
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.
When the breeding-season is 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 sentiment, for there are few birds to which we in Britain extend a more 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 of 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.
Somehow or another, in cuckoo society, the rearing of a family is a responsibility which 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, cunning, and the mutual co-operation of both the male and his—at least temporary—wife; hence the disguise. The plan of execution very frequently adopted is for the male to hover 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 the marauder, followed by his fearless assailants. No sooner is the coast clear, however, than the wily female, taking her egg in her beak, slips quietly up to the nest and deposits her burden.
Photo by Kerry & Co.] [Sydney.