CUCKOO. 101 
geniture who may have been preserved from previous expulsion, 
is well known. “Iwo Cuckoos and a Hedge-Sparrow,’ says 
Dr. Jenner, in his account of this strange bird, published in 
the ‘Transactions of the Royal Society,’ for the year 1788, 
‘were hatched in the same nest, this morning, (June 27th., 
1787:) one Hedge-Sparrow’s egg remained unhatched. In a 
few hours after a contest began between the Cuckoos for the 
possession of the nest, which continued undetermined till the 
next afternoon; when one of them, which was somewhat su- 
perior in size, turned out the other, together with the young 
Hedge-Sparrow and the unhatched egg. This contest was 
very remarkable—the combatants alternately appeared to have 
the advantage, as each carried the other several times nearly 
to the top of the nest, and then sank down again, oppressed 
by the weight of its burden; till at length, after various 
efforts, the strongest prevailed, and was afterwards brought 
up by the Hedge-Sparrows.’ 
In some instances, as for example where the nest is built 
on the ground, and especially if in a hollow, it may be im- 
possible for the young Cuckoo to turn out his companion or 
companions, and in one such case four young Wagtails were 
found lying dead beneath the usurper of their abode. Other 
birds who have young in the vicinity, display great apparent 
repugnance to the young Cuckoo. On the other hand there 
is an instance of an exactly opposite character, related in the 
‘Magazine of Natural History,’ vol. vi, page 83, by Mr. Ensor. 
In the neighbourhood of Ardress, the son of a tenant found 
a Cuckoo in the nest of a Titlark. ‘He brought it home, 
and fed it. In a few days, two Wrens, which had a nest 
with eight eggs, in the eaves, and just above the window 
fronting the cage in which the Cuckoo was placed, made 
their way through a broken pane, and continued to feed it 
for some time. The cage was small, and the boy preferring 
a Thrush to the Cuckoo, took it away, to give greater room 
to the Thrush. On this the Wrens repaired to their own 
nest, and brought out the eggs that had been laid.’ 
Bishop Stanley relates the two following somewhat similar 
incidents: —‘A young Cuckoo was taken from the nest of a 
Hedge-Sparrow, and in a few days afterwards, a young Thrush, 
scarcely fledged, was put into the same cage. ‘The latter 
could feed itself, but the Cuckoo, its companion, was obliged 
to be fed with a quill; in a short time, however, the Thrush 
took upon itself the task of feeding its fellow-prisoner, and 
