THE KOEL AND ITS ALLIES 297 



the foot of the tree where the observer 

 lost sight of it in the long grass. Al- 

 most immediately after, it flew up again 

 to the nest and remained about half a 

 minute, and then flew away. Mr. Harvey 

 walked up to the foot of the tree and 

 looking down to where the cuckoo had 

 settled, saw an egg on the ground ; it 

 was one of the Babbler's he had marked. 

 He got up to the nest and found three 

 eggs ; the third, a large one, was un- 

 marked. It may, therefore, be presumed 

 that destruction of the eggs of the host 

 is a common habit with the parasitic 

 cuckoos. 



It has been asked whether the Koel 

 lays its egg elsewhere and carries it in 

 its beak to place it in position. This 

 question has yet to be definitely answered 

 from actual observation. Except the Koel, 

 the other cuckoos select nests which are 

 too small for them to sit comfortably with- 

 out damaging them to some extent. So, 

 as Stuart Baker puts it — "We must take 



