The Oologists' Record, June 1, ig22. ' 43 



round the broad end is a very indistinct zone of slightly darker 

 shade of the same colour. In another clutch, the ground-colour 

 is pale drab with a distinct zone round the broad end of the 

 eggs of darkish-buff. In another clutch, the ground-colour is 

 creamy-buff. Round the middle of the eggs, in this clutch, is a 

 very distinct zone consisting of confluent blotches of brown. The 

 eggs of this clutch differ from those of the other clutches in having 

 the whole shell covered wath small, almost obsolete, spots of greenish- 

 brown. The measurements of a small series of six eggs are, -55 inches 

 to -65 inches long by -43 inches to -46 inches broad. All nests 

 were found during the months of October and November. 



[Mr. James sent the above in response to our request for 

 descriptions of very rare eggs. We shall be glad to receive similar 

 contributions from other subscribers. It is best to give detailed 

 and average measurements of eggs, which should be in millimetres. — 

 Editor.] 



THE CUCKOO'S SECRET. 



By Edgar Chance, M.B.O.U. 

 (Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., ys. 6d. nett.) 



The complete record of Mr. Chance's epoch-making investigations 

 of the breeding habits of the Cuckoo is now available to all. His 

 book must surely be the most concise and exact record of specialised 

 nature study ever published, but the pains he has taken in recording 

 the details are only proportionate to the importance of the results 

 he has achieved. At every stage the reader is furnished with the 

 fullest possible data accompanied by plans, diagrams and photo- 

 graphs, and when the author leaves the realms of fact for those of 

 theory his arguments are sound and supported b\^ logical deduc- 

 tions. 



We have not the space to quote lengthily from the book, which 

 most of our readers will wish to get for themselves. Perhaps the 

 most important part of the work from the oological point of view, 

 is the last chapter. Here we find that Mr. Chance considers it 

 likely that a hen Cuckoo, fostered by a certain species, will, in its 

 turn, victimise the same species. He wiites : " If we postulate 

 the truth of the theory, which for my part, I confidently hold, that 

 a female Cuckoo bred in (say) a Robin's nest is not only herself 



