Shining Cuckoo Trapped In Window

Northern Advocate, 10 January 1939, Page 9

Shining Cuckoo Trapped In Window

Blown .against the window of a Whangarei house .by a high wind yesterday, a shining cuckoo was trapped* between the sashes of the window. The bird was in a state of exhaustion when it was discovered. One of the few New Zealand migratory birds, the shining cuckoo arrives in New Zealand about September and leaves again any time between January and April. The New Zealand shining cuckoo migrates to New Guinea. Tire shining cuckoo caught yesterday was about the size of a thrush. Its striped breast gave the illusion of a jersey and its back and wings were iridescent green. Specks of this colour, incidentally, rubbed off when the bird w,as handled. Ventriloquist Powers. Although often heard, the shining cuckoo is seldom seen. It has ventriloquist powers and appears to be far off when in reality it is quite close. The popular belief that the whistle of the cuckoo is similar to the chime of the cuckoo clock does not apply to the shining cuckoo. Its call is a collection of from half-a-dozen to ten short -whistles ending in one prolonged note. Parasitic in its habits, the shining cuckoo lays its egg in the nests of other birds, which hatch the egg and become foster parents to the small cuckoo. The tiny grey warbler is most preyed upon by the shining cuckoo in New Zealand. The bird trapped yesterday was fed with budgerigar seed which it ate in quite large quantities. It rapidly regained its strength and was released this morning.