THE SHINING CUCKOO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20993, 2 October 1931, Page 10

THE SHINING CUCKOO.

THEORY OF MIGRATION. A CONTRARY OPINION. Although tho shining cuckoo, well known as a harbinger of spring, is commonly stated to be a migratory bird, one Auckland bird-lover, Dr. H. A. Chatfield, of rarnell, holds that probably it is not. "The theory that the shining cuckoo is a migrant was first stated over 80 years ago," .said Dr. Chatfield yesterday. "Naturalists seem to havo gone on adopting it without any very reliablo evidence. Tho bird is found in New Zealand, on Norfolk and Lord Ilowe Islands, and in Queensland as far north as Cape York. So far as I havo been able to learn, it has not been identified in New Guinea, from which it is said to migrate to this country. "It is quite possible that tho ancestors of tiiis species of cuckoo led a migratory life between New Zealand and North-east Australia, when theso were joined by land in tertiary times, but I believe that the migrations ceased as tho: land sank beneath the ocean. "The shining cuckoo is not well adapted for long flights over the sea. It cannot soar, liko the godwit, and has a rapid wing-beat. Probably a bird, if blown out to sea, could cover 800 or 1000 miles in an emergency, but it would not be likely to attempt it as a regular thing." Dr. Chatfield considers that the appearnnco of the shining cuckoo in spring and its disappearance later can be quite simply explained. The bird is more often recognised by its call then seen. The call is a mating cry, and therefore seasonal Moreover, there is every reason to think that the bird, being insectivorous, departs into the more or less remote native bush in winter in search of food and shelter, emerging for the purpose of laying it«; eggs in tho nests of other birds. As its plumage is very sober-coloured, and blends with tho dark green of the forest, it would bo hard to discover there in winter if anyone attempted to do so, which in tho ordinary ccurse would bo unlikely. So far Dr. Chatfield has not heard tho shining cuckoo this spring, but some weeks ago he distinctly heard the harsh cry of tho long-tailed cuckoo in tho neighbourhood of Parnell Park. This bird, which is not commonly found except in rather remote places, such as the Urewera forests and tho sanctuary at Little Barrier Island, is believed with fairly good reason to migrate yearly from Rarotonga and other islands to the northeast of New Zealand.