128 On certain Peculiartties in the 
Thus then it comes to pass that there are, and from the nature of 
the circumstances there must be, proportionably many exceptions to 
the rule. Thus too it comes to pass, that by far the greater num- 
ber of Cuckoo’s eggs bear the type of the eggs of the ‘ White-throat ’ 
(Sylvia cinerea), and of the ‘Pied Wagtail’ (Motacilla Yarreilit), 
the most common foster parents of the young Cuckoo ;! and per- 
haps in some localities, of the ‘Meadow Pipit’ (Anthus pratensis), 
the ‘Hedge Accentor’ (Accentor modularis), and of the ‘Reed 
Wren’ (Sylvia arundinacea): and that on that account eggs of 
such colouring form the most frequent exceptions; that is to say, 
are most frequently found in the nests of other species. Thus too, 
lastly it comes to pass, that these two above-named prevailing 
colours of the Cuckoo’s eggs, are spread over most localities, whilst 
at the same time they also appear, almost everywhere, as exceptions 
in other nests. For the diffusion of these two species, (the com- 
mon White-throat and the Pied Wagtail) is very extensive, and 
their haunts usually offer to the Cuckoo also the requirements of 
its existence: it is therefore not without signification, that one 
seldom finds in their nests Cuckoo’s eggs of other colours, but one 
does very frequently find in the nests of other birds, Cuckoo’s eggs 
of their type.” 
[I will just quote, before I take leave of Dr. Baldamus, the three 
following deductions, which he draws from his observations, and 
with which he concludes his paper. 
I. “Nature must have some special motive in the circumstances 
above detailed, so many, so connected together, but so peculiar. 
II. That motive is plainly to be seen: viz. that by means of 
certain laws originally made she may ensure and facilitate the 
preservation of a species otherwise much exposed to danger. 
III. She attains this end by a very simple method: in that she 
Chambers, [Ibis, vol. v., p. 475]. See also M. Vaillant’s account of the African 
Cuckoo shot by himself, and his faithful attendant, the Hottentot Klaas, and 
the frequent occurrence of the egg laid by the Cuckoo as she fell wounded from 
the tree. [Rennie’s Architecture of Birds, p. 378.] 
1The Pied Wagtail, the Meadow Pipit, and the Hedge Warbler, are perhaps 
most frequently chosen as the foster parents in this country. 

