298 PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 



it for granted that the cuckoo lays its 

 egg on the ground and then places it 

 in the nest selected for its reception. In 

 no case have I found a nest in any way 

 damaged by the cuckoo and often the 

 only way it was possible for the egg to 

 have been deposited in the nest, without 

 considerably spoiling it, would have been 

 in this manner." The Koel, we must re- 

 member, victimises a strong and vindictive 

 bird. The fear of being caught at the 

 game is always present in its mind and 

 the only way in which it can hurry 

 through the operation is by bringing the 

 egg in its beak after laying it elsewhere 

 on the ground. 



Another matter of controversy is whe- 

 ther the young Koel ejects the children 

 of its foster-parent. Gates thought that 

 the young crows are probably got rid of 

 by the young Koel. The young of the 

 Common Cuckoo ( Cucidns canorus ) is 

 in the habit of doing this. Stuart Baker 

 says that ''it has practically been as- 



