May 1, 1S70.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



100 



of the same species— that is, in the nest of that 

 species whose eggs most nearly approximate in 

 colour to her own ? 



And yet we must be satisfied on these points if 

 we are to accept the ingenious theory of Dr. Balda- 

 mus. If we understand the learned German rightly, 

 he states that, with a view to insure the preserva- 

 tion of species which would otherwise be exposed 

 to danger, Nature has endowed every hen Cuckoo 

 with the faculty of laying eggs similar in colour to 

 those of the species in whose nest she lays, in 

 order that they may be less easily detected by 



Newton, has appeared in Nature (18th November, 

 1869)* 



To enter fully upon the details of this interest- 

 ing subject, would require more space than we have 

 at our disposal ; we can only glance, therefore, at 

 the general opinions which have been expressed in 

 connection with it. 



If the theory of Dr. Baldamus be correct, is it 

 possible to give a reasonable and satisfactory ex- 

 planation of it ? This question has been answered 

 by Professor Newton in the article to which we 

 have just referred. He says : — " Without attributing 



Pig. 120. The Cuckoo. 



the foster parents, and that she only makes use of 

 the nest of some other species {i.e. of one whose 

 eggs do not resemble her own) when, at the time 

 she is ready to lay, a nest of the former description 

 is not at hand. This statement, which concludes a 

 long and interesting article on the subject in the 

 German ornithological journal Naumannia, for 1S53, 

 has deservedly attracted much attention. English 

 readers were presented with an epitome of this 

 article by Mr. Dawson Rowley in the Ibis for 

 1S65, and the Rev. A. C. Smith, after bringing it 

 to the notice of the Wiltshire Archaeological Society 

 in the same year, published a literal translation of 

 the paper in the Zoologist for 1868. More recently, 

 an excellent article on the subject, by Professor 



any wonderful sagacity to the Cuckoo, it does 

 seem likely that the bird which once success- 

 fully deposited her eggs in a Reed Wren's or a 

 Titlark's nest, should again seek for another Reed 

 Wren's or a Titlark's nest (as the case may be) 

 when she had an egg to dispose of, and that she 

 should continue her practice from one season to 

 another. We know that year after year the same 

 migratory bird will return to the same locality, and 

 build its nest in almost the same spot. Though 

 the Cuckoo be somewhat of a vagrant, there is no 



* Since writing the above, we have heard that a further 

 communication from Prof. Newton has appeared in a more 

 recent number of the same periodical, but we have not yet 

 seen it. 



