THE KOEL 119 



fight, hence it is quite useless for the former to attempt 

 by means of force to introduce its egg into the crow's 

 nest. It is obliged to resort to guile. The cock 

 entices away the crows, and while they are absent the 

 hen deposits her egg. 



Crows appear to dislike the cry of the koel quite as 

 much as men do. But whereas man is usually content 

 with swearing at the noisy cuckoo, crows attack it with 

 beak and claw whenever an opportunity offers. This 

 fact is turned to account by the koel. The cock alights 

 in a tree near a crow's nest and begins to call. The 

 owners of the nest, sooner or later, " go for " him. He 

 then takes to his wings, continuing to call, so as to 

 induce the crows to prolong the chase. As he is a 

 more rapid flier than they, he does not run much risk. 

 While the irate corvi are in pursuit, the hen koel, who 

 has been lurking around, slips into the nest and there 

 lays her egg. If she is given time she destroys one or 

 more of those already in the nest. She does this, not 

 because the crows would detect the presence of an 

 additional egg, but in order that her young, when 

 hatched, will not be starved owing to the large number 

 of mouths to feed. 



Crows, although such clever birds, are, as we have seen, 

 remarkably stupid at the nesting season. They are 

 unable to distinguish the koel's egg from their own, 

 although the former is considerably smaller, with an 

 olive-green background instead of a bluish one ; and 

 when the young koel emerges from the egg, they are 

 unable to differentiate between it and their own off- 

 spring, although baby koels are black and baby crows 



