306 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 



in "Naiimannia/' 1853 (p. 307), by Dr. Baldamus, 

 in wliicli that accomplished naturalist endeavours to 

 prove "that the egg of the cuckoo is always found 

 to present a very recognizable resemblance to the 

 normal appearance of the egg of the species in whose 

 nest it is deposited;" giving also in the same journal 

 for 1854 (p. 415), a list of references to a plate repre- 

 sentmg sixteen cuckoos' eggs, in proof of his assertion. 

 *' The similarity (says Mr. Gould) in many instances is 

 very obvious, and the subject of the article, which does 

 not seem to be generally known to British ornithologists, 

 deservedly merits further attention." Mr. G. D. Eowley, 

 in a very interesting paper in the " Ibis" (1865, p. 178), 

 *^0n certain facts in the economy of the cuckoo," also 

 refers to Dr. Baldamus's article, and though not at pre- 

 sent convinced by the arguments of the writer, which 

 are opposed in many respects to his own experience ; 

 yet, in expressing his admiration at the learned doctor's 

 researches, he adds, ^' The theory is as beautiful as it 

 is new, and I only wish that fresh evidence may be 

 brought forward of a nature so strong as to make it 

 an acknowledged fact." Mr. Rowley has, for some 

 years, devoted a considerable amount of time and 

 labour to the study of the habits of this remarkable 

 species, and his paper should be perused by every one 

 desirous of knowing the latest views of ornithologists on 

 this difficult subject. The period of laying, he believes, 

 from personal observation, to extend from the begin- 

 ning of May to the middle of July, having taken eggs 

 of the cuckoo as late as the 29th of that month. He 

 also gives on the authority of continental as well as 

 British authors, with some few additions supplied by 

 the editor of the " Ibis," the subjoined list* of no less 



* Sylvia liortensis, cinerea, atricapilla P curruca, tithys, phosni- 

 curus, rubecula, arundinacea, palustris, cariceti, locustella, nisoria, 



