188 Major R. F. Meiklejolin on the [Ibis, 



{b) Either before, or Avherij inserting its eggs into the 

 nest, the Cuckoo almost invaria1)ly removes one or more 

 of those belonging to the selected foster-parents. Other 

 eggs are occasionally ejected subsequently, 



(c) The Cuckoo's e^g, in the large majority of cases, is 

 accepted by the birds ou whom it is foisted, and the young 

 Cuckoo is tended with extraordinary devotion, even after its 

 size greatly exceeds their own. They continue to feed it 

 for some time after it has left the nest, and, owing to its 

 size, often have to do so by perching on its head, and thus 

 placing the food in its huge beak. This is the more re- 

 markable as, when fully fledged, the Cuckoo is " mobbed " 

 by small birds owing to its resemblance to a Hawk. 



[d) Very shortly after being hatched the young Cuckoo 

 almost always ejects all the other occupants of the nest, and, 

 in the rare event of two young Cuckoos being hatched in 

 the same nest, the weaker is turned out. This, indeed, is a 

 necessary provision of Nature, for, owing to its rapid growth 

 and great voracity, there might not be sufficient food for it, 

 if it had to be divided amongst other mouths. To achieve 

 the process of ejection, the young Cuckoo has a curious 

 hollow in its back, and it worms itself under each of the 

 other occupants of the nest in turn until it has got them 

 on this hollow, when, by a sudden straightening of the legs, 

 it shoots them over the side of the nest. ]ts pertinacity is 

 extraordinary, and it knows no rest till all are expelled, 

 when it sinks back exhausted with gaping beak. Yet, if one 

 of the rightful occupants be replaced its efforts begin again 

 at once. Isolated instances have occurred in which the other 

 young were not thrown out, and there was a case quoted on 

 the Continent in 1914 in which two well-feathered young 

 Cuckoos were found in a nest with young Great Titmice. 

 But when the nest is situated in a deep hole or cavity, the 

 " ejection'' of the other inmates might be impossible. 



These appear to be all the indisputable facts we possess 

 on this subject, and, so far, the difficulties caused by the 

 abnormal nesting-habits of this species have baffled all 

 attempts to obtain further conclusive evidence. 



