136 THE COLORATION OF CUCKOOS' EGGS. 



if the bird does not recognise any difference between her 

 own egg and that of the foster-bird. 



The cuckoo does not exhibit any intelligence in her selec" 

 tion, often depositing her egg in a nest from which the grown 

 young cannot escape ; she merely exercises an instinct which 

 has taught her not to make a nest for herself, but to make 

 use of some other nest, and she deposits her egg in the one 

 nearest to hand. 



There can be no doubt that the colour of some eggs is 

 protective, but there is no evidence that the types of eggs 

 are showing any alterations, and many eggs are not, accord- 

 ing to human reasoning, coloured protectively, or laid in 

 the best sort of nests. 



A collection of British eggs, and a large series of cuckoos 

 eggs, with, in most cases, the eggs of foster-parents, was shown 

 in proof of the above. 



