_PARROTS, CUCKOOS, AND PLANTAIN-EATERS._
PARROTS.
"The art of taming wild animals," writes Mr. Jenks in his "History of
Politics," "and making them serve the purposes of man, is one of the
greatest discoveries of the world." He holds--and there can be little
question as to its reasonableness--"that the domestication of animals
converted the savage pack into the patriarchal tribe," and that the
earliest domesticated animals were pets. How great a share, then, PARROTS
may have had in this civilisation and advancement no man can tell, for it
is impossible to say how long these beautiful birds may have been esteemed
as pets, or how early they were introduced to the notice of the civilised
peoples of past generations. Certain it is, however, that for more than
2,000 years they have been held in the highest esteem.
Modern discovery has added enormously to the list of known parrots, so that
to-day more than 500 different species have been described, and these may
be divided into NESTORS, LORIES, COCKATOOS, COCKATEELS, MACAWS, and
KAKAPOS.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Reid_] [_Wishaw, N.B._
KEA
Also known as the Mountain-nestor.]
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
NEW ZEALAND KEA.
The kea frequents the slopes of lofty snow-covered mountains.]
Of the first named, the best known is the KEA, or MOUNTAIN-NESTOR, of the
South Island, New Zealand. Dull in coloration, and not striking in
appearance, it has earned an unenviable notoriety, which appears to rest as
much upon fable as upon fact. It seems that, since the introduction of
sheep into this part of the world by the settlers, this bird has found a
diet of flesh more stimulating than one of fruit. Exactly how this came to
be is not known. Two explanations have been advanced. The first has it that
the birds settled on the skins of the sheep slaughtered for their wool, and
picked off pieces of fat therefrom, as well as various tit-bits from the
carcases of the same, and thus found out how toothsome--or beaksome--mutton
was. From this they went a step further, and did the slaughtering for
themselves. Parties of them now go a-hunting, worry a sheep till exhausted,
then dig down through the back, and so wound the intestines that death
results. Another explanation is that the birds in the original instance
mistook the sheep's backs for the huge masses of lichen common to this
region, of which the birds are very fond. Not finding it to their taste at
the top, they dug deep, and soon came to the flesh, which, like the
forbidden fruit, proved more palatable than that which was provided for
them by a bountiful Nature. The result is, that they have become a menace
to sheep-farmers, and are on this account in danger of extermination. It
has, however, been denied recently that the damage inflicted is anything
like so serious as was at one time reported, since on one run, where the
damage was unusually large, only 1 in 300 sheep was so attacked. This bird
has also been said to attack horses.
Very different, in general appearance and in esteem, are the LORIES. Like
the Nestors, the tip of the upper jaw, or beak, is smooth, or nearly so;
and in this respect these two groups are to be distinguished from all the
other parrots; but in the gorgeousness of their plumage they far eclipse
their congeners. Absent in New Zealand, they are found elsewhere throughout
the Australasian region, inclusive of Polynesia, and are highly esteemed as
pets, combining great beauty with a very docile disposition and
considerable talking powers.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
NEW ZEALAND KAKA.
The Maoris keep this bird as a lure.]
The birds of this section are also known as BRUSH-TONGUED PARROTS, from the
presence of a remarkable "brush" borne on the end of the tongue. This is a
special adaptation, enabling the birds to feed upon honey; some, indeed,
have this brush particularly well developed, and are almost entirely
honey-seekers, whilst others, wherein the brush is less developed, live
largely on fruits. Professor Moseley tells us that honey literally poured
from the mouths of BLUE MOUNTAIN-LORIES which he shot at Cape York.
The COCKATOOS are abundant in the Australian region, but have their
headquarters in the Malay Archipelago. Besides the familiar white-crested
form so commonly kept in England, the group includes an iron-grey coloured
bird with a bright red head, and a huge black species, which represents the
giant of the order. It is a funereal-looking bird, the largest specimens
inhabiting New Guinea. One of its most striking features is the beak, which
is of enormous size. Its tongue differs from that of other parrots in that
it is slender and cylindrical in shape, and of a deep red colour, instead
of thick, fleshy, and black. It frequents, Mr. Wallace tells us, the lower
parts of the forest, feeding upon various fruits and seeds, but displaying
a marked partiality for the kernel of the canary-nut, which grows on a
lofty forest-tree; "and the manner in which it gets at these seeds," writes
Mr. Wallace, "shows a correlation of structure and habits which would point
to the canary as its special food. The shell of this nut is so excessively
hard that only a heavy hammer will crack it; it is somewhat triangular, and
the outside is quite smooth. The manner in which the bird opens these nuts
is very curious. Taking one end-ways in its bill, and keeping it firm by a
pressure of the tongue, it cuts a transverse notch by a lateral sawing
motion of the sharp-edged lower mandible. This done, it takes hold of the
nut with its foot, and, biting off a piece of leaf, retains it in the deep
notch by the upper mandible, and again seizing the nut, which is prevented
from slipping by the elastic tissue of the leaf, fixes the edge of the
lower mandible in the notch, and a powerful rip breaks off a piece of the
shell. Again taking the nut in its claws, it inserts the very long and
sharp point of the bill, and picks out the kernel, which is seized hold of,
morsel by morsel, by the extensile tongue."
Of the typical parrots, the best known is the common GREY AFRICAN PARROT,
with a red tail, so valued on account of its great talking powers. Other
species of this section which should be mentioned here are the PYGMY
PARROTS, MACAWS, HAWK-BILLED PARROT, BUDGERIGARS, and OWL-PARROT.
The first named are the smallest of all the tribe, remarkable as well for
the splendour of the plumage as their size, which is less than that of the
common sparrow.
The LONG-TAILED MACAWS, representing the most showy and gaudily coloured of
all the Parrot Tribe, inhabit the tropical forests of South America. Mr.
Bates describes a flock of scarlet-and-blue macaws, which he came across
one day, as looking like a cluster of flaunting banners among the crown of
dark green leaves of a bacaba-palm.
The superb HYACINTHINE MACAW is one of the rarest of the Parrot Tribe, and
was found by Bates in the interior of Brazil. As its name implies, it is of
a deep hyacinthine colour, relieved by a bare patch of pure white skin
round the eyes. It feeds on the nuts of several palms, especially those of
the macuja. These nuts, which are so hard as to be difficult to break
without a heavy hammer, are crushed to a pulp by the powerful beak of this
macaw.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Midford-on-sea._
BLACK COCKATOO.
Found in pairs in thick forests.]
Crests among parrots are common enough, but only one species wears a frill;
this is the HAWK-BILLED PARROT of the Amazon Valley. It is closely related
to the large and well-known AMAZON PARROTS, and has been aptly described as
a most extraordinary bird. Its coloration is striking--green above, with a
brown head; the frill or ruff around the neck shows up in strong contrast,
being dark red, with blue edges, and barred with blue. The feathers of the
breast and abdomen, like the frill, are also red and blue, whilst the
under-surfaces of the tail and wings are black. It is only when the bird is
excited or angry that the ruff is raised.
[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._] [_Parson's Green._
COCKATOO.
Cockatoos in a wild state often congregate in immense flocks.]
The HANGING-PARROTS are about the same size as the well-known "love-birds,"
and remarkable for their habit of sleeping suspended head-downwards by one
foot from the boughs of trees. They are all brilliantly coloured birds, and
have a fairly wide range, extending from India and the Philippines through
the Malay region as far east as Duke of York Island.
The Australian BUDGERIGARS, or GRASS-PARRAKEETS, need no description here;
but it is interesting to note that nearly allied to them is a small species
known as the SWAMP- or LONG-TAILED GROUND-PARRAKEET. As its name implies,
it is a ground-dwelling species, and, in accordance with this habit, has
considerably longer legs than the tree-haunting species. This lengthening
of the leg in arboreal species is seen also among pigeons and many other
birds.
[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz_] [_Berlin._
LEADBEATER'S COCKATOO.
Has a red crest, banded with yellow and tipped with white.]
The most interesting, perhaps, of all the parrots is the remarkable KAKAPO,
or OWL-PARROT, of New Zealand. Like the species just described, it is also
a ground-dweller; furthermore, it differs from all other members of the
tribe in being flightless, and, like the flightless members of the Ostrich
Tribe, has completely lost the deep keel from the breast-bone, which gives
support to the muscles which move the wings. It is a large bird, green in
colour, mottled with yellow and black, and derives its name of Owl-parrot
from the fact that the feathers of the face radiate from the eye outwards
to form a kind of disk. When eating grass, it is said to graze, nibbling
after the fashion of a rabbit. Occasionally it is said to climb trees,
descending with extended wings, so as to break the force of its career. It
has been described as a playful and affectionate pet in captivity,
displaying also great cleverness and intelligence. Unfortunately it is
growing more and more rare, so that its final extermination is only a
question of time--the ravages of dogs, cats, and pigs, introduced by the
settlers, being mainly the agents of destruction.
Once common all over New Zealand, the range of the owl-parrot is now
restricted to the mountainous regions of North Island and the northern half
of South Island. During the day it remains concealed in the holes in rocks
or under roots of trees, and if disturbed is difficult to rouse. When taken
from its retreat, it runs swiftly, and tries to hide, seeking shelter, if
possible, under a heap of soft, dry grass. At sunset, however, it becomes
very animated, and travels--at least when possible--in companies, making
tracks a foot or more wide across the herbage. It feeds greedily upon
mosses, ferns, seeds, berries, and, it is said, even lizards, giving vent,
when devouring some favourite morsel, to a kind of grunting noise.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_] [_Wishaw, N.B._
MACAW.
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.
[Illustration: _Photo by Kerry & Co._] [_Sydney._
BLUE MOUNTAIN-PARROTS.
A honey-eating species.]
[Illustration: _Photo by J. Peat Millar_] [_Beith._
YOUNG CUCKOO EJECTING EGG.
The egg is held in position by the head and wings.]
Let us imagine that this home so lately threatened is that of the modest
little hedge-sparrow, and take a peep during the absence of the owners,
after quiet has established itself once again. Lying side by side with the
tiny sky-blue eggs of the hedge-sparrow we should find the relatively
large, greyish-green or reddish-grey egg of the cuckoo. What a contrast! If
the hedge-sparrows notice this too, they evidently do not mind, for they
invariably hatch it with their own.
But some birds are not so accommodating as this, and would ruthlessly
destroy or reject any egg surreptitiously introduced into the nest.
Consequently more deception has to be practised. The hawk-like garb still
serves its purpose to draw off the intended dupes from the nest; but this
is not enough, for to deposit an egg of the normal cuckoo type would be
worse than useless, since it would meet with instant destruction on the
return of the owners of the nest. But the cuckoo, strange to say, has
proved equal to the occasion, and meets the difficulty by laying an egg to
match those in the nest. The Redstart, Wagtail, Sedge-warbler, Red-backed
Shrike, and Meadow-pipit may be cited as instances of--shall we say
exclusive?--birds which must be circumvented by "colourable imitations."
Perhaps the most wonderful of the cuckoo successes in this direction is the
imitation of the redstart's egg, which is blue.
Naturally these facts have given rise to much speculation, but even now we
cannot regard the discussion as finally settled. Some ornithologists held
that the egg of every individual cuckoo was subject to great variations,
and that the place of deposit of each egg was determined only after the
bird had ascertained its colour. If this were true, surely we should find
blue cuckoos' eggs in hedge-sparrows' as well as redstarts' nests. But we
don't! Others have sought to explain the existence of mimicking eggs to the
influence of the food peculiar to the foster-parent upon the germ of the
young female cuckoo, which, through this channel, became transmitted to all
its descendants. To support this hypothesis it was necessary to throw
overboard the old individual variability explanation, and to adopt one that
is certainly nearer the truth--to wit, that each cuckoo chooses the nest of
that species in which itself was reared as a depository, in turn, for its
own egg, and only when such is not available will it select some other
species, and trust to luck for its adoption. This would certainly account
for many anomalies; but as it seems that there are more eggs unlike than
like those of the selected foster-parents, it cannot be a perfect
explanation.
A third explanation takes that part of the second for granted which assumes
that cuckoos select nests of the species which served them as
foster-parents, and explains the mimicry, when this occurs, as due to the
results of natural selection.
Our interest, however, in the domestic economy of the common cuckoo is not
to be allowed to drop with the incubation of the egg. The perfidy of the
parents seems to have cast a sombre shadow over the cradle of the
offspring, an evil spell destined to bear fruit with terrible suddenness;
for the young, before it is many hours old, and while yet blind and naked,
perpetrates its first act of wrong-doing by committing murder! There is no
case here of wilful or ignorant misrepresentation and slander, such as many
of our feathered friends are made to suffer at our hands--no foolish
prejudice such as has blasted the reputation of some of our most guiltless
and useful of bird-citizens. The witnesses of the crime of which we speak
are many and unimpeachable. The facts are as follows:--
[Illustration: _Photo by Billington_] [_Queensland._
PHEASANT-CUCKOO.
The hind toe terminates in a spur-like claw; hence these cuckoos are known
as Lark-heeled Cuckoos.]
The parent cuckoo deposits her egg in the nest of some other bird with
those of the owners thereof. All are hatched. In a few hours after the
arrival of the young cuckoo the foster-brothers and -sisters invariably
disappear, and are not seldom found in the immediate neighbourhood of the
nest. That they must have been removed by force is certain; but this force
cannot be attributed to the natural parents. The evidence of the first
witnesses, therefore, was worthy of all consideration; and since their
accounts have been frequently confirmed by most trustworthy observers, we
must now admit the charge proved. One of the best known of these accounts
is that of Mrs. Hugh Blackburn. She has given us a vivid picture of this
most extraordinary of domestic tragedies. The victims in this instance were
meadow-pipits. Finding a pipit's nest with a cuckoo's egg therein, she kept
it carefully under observation. At one visit she found the pipits hatched,
but not the cuckoo. Forty-eight hours later the cuckoo had not only
arrived, but ousted his foster-brothers and -sisters, who were found lying
outside the nest, but yet alive. They were replaced beside the cuckoo,
which at once reopened hostilities for the purpose of maintaining its
absolute possession of the nursery. This it did by burrowing under one of
them, which, balanced upon its back, it proceeded to eject by climbing up
the nest tail-foremost, till, reaching the brim, it could relieve itself of
its burden by heaving it over the edge and down the bank. Pausing a moment,
it then felt backwards with its wings to make sure the pipit was really
gone, and, having satisfied itself on this point, subsided to the bottom of
the nest. Next day, when the nest was visited, the remaining pipit was
found outside the nest cold and dead. "But what struck me most," she
writes, "was this: the cuckoo was perfectly naked, without a vestige of a
feather or even a hint of feathers, its eyes were not yet opened, and its
neck seemed too weak to support the weight of its head. The pipits had
well-developed quills on the wings and back, and had bright eyes partially
opened, yet they seemed quite helpless under the manipulations of the
cuckoo, which looked a much less developed creature."
[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_] [_Berkhamsted._
CUCKOO ONE DAY OLD IN HEDGE-SPARROW'S NEST.
The young bird has its mouth open, ready for all the food the
foster-parents can collect.]
The GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO of South Europe and North Africa is a species
which, though parasitic, does not seem to have sunk to such a depth as the
common cuckoo. Its eggs very closely resemble those of certain magpies and
crows within its breeding-area, and it is in the nests of these that they
are deposited. We may assume that mimicry has been resorted to, and become
perfected by the same means as have accomplished this end in the case of
the common cuckoo. We notice here, however, two points of difference
therefrom. In the first place, from two to four eggs are left in each nest
instead of one; and, secondly, the young cuckoos seem to live in perfect
amity with their foster-brothers and -sisters--there is no ejection of the
rightful heirs.
Having pledged themselves to a course of deception and treachery, there is
no telling the lengths to which such conduct may lead. We have already seen
that the bird has succeeded in laying what we may call forged eggs, but we
come now to an instance where the young has also to be disguised. This is
furnished by a species of cuckoo known as the KOEL, inhabiting Palawan, an
island in the Philippines. This bird shifts its parental duties upon the
shoulders of a species of myna inhabiting the same island. Now, the mynas
are black, and their young, as is often the case where both sexes are
coloured alike, resemble the parents, and are black likewise. With the
cuckoo the case is different. The male and female are conspicuously
different in coloration, the former being black, the latter brown. In such
cases it is the rule for the young to wear the livery of the female. If
this rule were adhered to in the case of the cuckoo, destruction would be
more than probable, for the mynas would as likely as not destroy so
outrageous a departure from myna custom as a brown youngster. But the koel
has proved equal to the occasion, by the simple expedient of attiring the
young in the male instead of the female livery. Later on in life the rule
for the exchange of plumage is reversed, and the young female doffs the
temporary black dress of the male for the brown one of the adult female,
instead of vice versâ.
All cuckoos, however, are not parasitic, the species known as LARK-HEELED
CUCKOOS--from the presence of a long, spine-like claw on the hind
toe--building a nest and hatching their own eggs. They have a wide range,
being found in Africa from Egypt to Cape Colony, Madagascar, India, China,
New Guinea, and Australia.
[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_] [_Berkhamsted._
YOUNG CUCKOO.
A young cuckoo remains in the nest till fully fledged.]
As a rule, the Cuckoos are not conspicuously coloured, but some species are
clad in a livery resplendent with metallic colours. These are represented
by the Indian and Australian BRONZE CUCKOOS and the African GOLDEN CUCKOOS.
One of the most beautiful of all is the African EMERALD CUCKOO, in which
the upper-parts are of a vivid emerald-green, whilst the under-parts are
bright yellow.
Finally, we must mention the GROUND-CUCKOOS, which are comparatively
long-legged, terrestrial forms, with small wings. One of the best known is
an inhabitant of the Southern United States, from Texas to New Mexico,
Southern Colorado, and California. "It has obtained the name of
ROAD-RUNNER," writes Dr. Sharpe, "from the speed with which it flies over
the ground, some idea of which may be gained from a statement of Colonel
Stevenson, that, when in Southern California, he saw, on two occasions, the
ranchmen of that part of the country chase one of these birds on horseback
for a distance of a mile or more at full speed, when the cuckoo, though
still in advance, would suddenly stop and fly up among the upper limbs of
some stunted tree or bush near the roadside, and the rider, having kept the
bird in view all the way, would dismount and easily take the exhausted bird
from its perch alive."
That the African PLANTAIN-EATERS, or TOURACOS, are related to the Cuckoos
there can be no doubt, although they do not bear any very close superficial
resemblance to them. Striking in appearance and of beautiful plumage, they
owe as much of the interest which now centres on them to the chemist as to
the ornithologist. Long ago it was noticed that the rich crimson colour of
the wing-quills disappeared after exposure to a heavy rain, having been
apparently washed out--a supposition justified by the discovery still later
that the water in which captive species had been bathing was strongly
tinged with colour. A little more than thirty years ago these facts came
under the notice of Professor Church, who, as a result of a thorough
examination of the mystery, was enabled to announce the discovery of a new
animal pigment containing copper, which he called "turacin."
[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_] [_Berkhamsted._
YOUNG CUCKOO IN REED-WARBLER'S NEST.
This photograph was taken in August, an unusually late date to find these
birds in the nest.]
There are twenty-five different species of plantain-eaters, which are
divided into two groups--those which have red in the quills and those
without. All are forest-dwellers, feeding upon various wild fruits,
building a nest of sticks resembling that of a pigeon, and laying therein
three white eggs. The majority of the species are crested and brilliantly
coloured, but a few are quite soberly clad. The largest of the tribe is
nearly 3 feet long, and a brief description of its coloration will serve to
convey a notion of the beauty of the more gorgeously clad members. In this
species, then, the upper surface of the body is blue, the tail yellow, with
a blue base and black bar across the tip, the under surface of the body
rufous brown, the bill yellow, with a scarlet tip, and the eye red.
Though the tops of the highest trees seem to be their favourite resort,
these birds are found also among the dense tangled masses of creepers near
the ground, flitting, when disturbed, in graceful curves, and alighting
with crest erected and the tail turned sharply upwards. The powers of
flight appear to vary among the different species, some being described as
decidedly clumsy on the wing, whilst others, on the contrary, are light and
graceful. Shy and very restless, they are very difficult to procure, when
wounded running with great speed, and taking shelter in holes in trees.
Their flesh is esteemed a great delicacy by the natives. Save during rain
or the heat of midday, they appear to be very noisy birds, having a harsh
note, varied with cat-like mewings.
----