THE COLORATION OF CUCKOOS' EGGS. 135 



Following these, there appears to be no constant rule, the 

 exceptions to any attempted or artificial rule being almost as 

 many as the observances. And the evolutionist asks us to 

 suppose that the earliest eggs were white, and that colour 

 is a development for protective purposes ! Where is the 

 evidence of change in type of eggs ? 



The cuckoo deposits her eggs in all sorts of nests, not 

 simply those of insectivorous birds, as has been said, though 

 all nestlings are insectivorous or flesh-eaters (except the 

 pigeons among British birds), — if she makes use of pipits, 

 warblers of many sorts, larks, flycatchers, swallows, wrens, 

 butcher-birds, wagtails, thrushes, 'and ''grebes' nests, we 

 should expect to have the eggs placed in the right nests as 

 to the colour of the eggs ; but we find nothing of the sort. 



The bird has no control over the colour of her egg, and to 

 suggest protective selection is an extraordinary assumption ; 

 for what is the influence of the male bird upon the colour of 

 the shell of the egg laid by his mate ? And further, does 

 the bird know anything about the colour of the egg that his 

 mate will lay so that he can select ? The hen bird certainly 

 knows nothing of colour, for her eggs are deposited in many 

 nests, — that is, the same cuckoo does not deposit all her 

 eggs in one sort of nest ; if she exercised any powers ot 

 thought, this would not be the case. It is suggested that 

 a bird having successfully deposited in one nest would in 

 future years make use of a similar nest, but there is no 

 evidence to shov/ that the bird takes any observations as to 

 the results of her choice of nest. A single cuckoo egg is 

 often found alone in a nest, the only egg of the foster-parent 

 having been ejected ; where is there evidence of the egg 

 having been deposited so that the foster-bird should not 

 notice it ? Two cuckoo eggs in one nest are most often of 

 ■different types, though not invariably so. This appears as 



