288 Cuckoo hatched by the Linnet, fyc. 



stones by the side of the nest : I replaced them upon the nest ; 

 and, as the young cuckoos appeared very hungry, I spread a 

 quantity of small worms, ants' pupas, and bread, upon a board 

 close at hand, with which the old birds stopped their cries. 



On July 29., one of the young wagtails was dead upon the 

 nest, and the others sat shivering upon the ground beneath. 

 I again replaced them ; but, on August 2. they were not in 

 the nest, nor could I ever see them afterwards, though I made 

 a diligent search. The young cuckoos continued to thrive 

 for some days, and then they fell a prey to a cat, which thus 

 put an end to my observations. — Henry Turner. Botanic 

 Garden, Bury St. Edmund's, Oct. 15. 1832. 



The Cuckoo hatched and nurtured by the Linnet {which 

 Species of?). — " In the nursery grounds of Mr. Burge, gar- 

 dener and seedsman, of this town [?], a linnet, in the spring 

 of the year, built her nest, in which a cuckoo deposited an 

 egg, which, after incubation, produced a young bird. As soon 

 as it was fledged, it was placed in a wicker cage by the pro- 

 prietor of the grounds, and suspended to a tree near the spot, 

 where it was carefully attended by its foster-parents, and is 

 now grown a fine bird, about the size of a thrush [not having, 

 we may suppose, attained a greater size at the time the report 

 was prepared for publication]. It was at first very shy, but has 

 subsequently become more familiar, and freely receives the 

 food which is given it, consisting of worms, &c. The little birds, 

 its generous patrons, constantly attend it, and administer to 

 its support." (North Devon Journal. Date not preserved.) 



The Species of Birds in whose Nests the Cuckoo has been 

 known to deposit its Egg or Eggs, seem to be these. The pied 

 wagtail more frequently (V. 277. 278. 675.; VI. 83.; VIII. 

 283—287.) ; the titlark (I. 374. ; IV.270. 302. 415.; V. 675. ; 

 VI. 83.) ; the redstart (V. 278.); the robin (VTII. 284.) ; the 

 hedge-chanter (II. 242.; III. 192. 397.; V. 278. 675.; VI. 

 83.); the greenfinch (VIII. 287.) ; the linnet, of some species 

 (VIII. 288.); the yellowhammer (VIII. 287.) ; and, accord- 

 ing to Rennie's Mont. Orn. Diet., 1 20., the larks, the white- 

 throat ; and the wren, with a doubt. In VI. 83. is a notice 

 of two wrens adopting a captured young cuckoo. For a 

 notice of the species of birds in whose nests Mr. Hewitson 

 has known the egg of the cuckoo to be found, see in p. 292. 

 Should not the reed-sparrow be added to this list ? Montagu 

 has stated (Orn. Diet., Rennie's edit., p. 117.) the fact of the 

 cuckoo's egg being taken out of a reed-sparrow's (reed-bunt- 

 ing's) nest. What other species of birds ? 



The natural history of the cuckoo is so very interesting, 

 that it cannot be too much elucidated ; and in the hope of 



