General Notes on the Cuckoo. 17 



Redpoll, Lesser Redpoll, Twite, Bullfinch, Nor- 

 thern Bullfinch, Black-headed Bunting, Corn Bunt- 

 ing, Yellow Bunting, Meadow Bunting, Cirl 

 Bunting, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Ortolan, Reed 

 Bunting, Lapland Bunting, Starling, Jay, Magpie, 

 Jackdaw, Skylark, Woodlark, Crested Tit, Short- 

 toed Lark, White -winged Lark, Desert Lark, Green 

 Woodpecker, Ring Dove, Stock Dove, Turtle 

 Dove, and Little Grebe. One hundred and nine- 

 teen species in all. 



I have always found the Hedge Sparrow to be 

 charged with the rearing of the great sprawling 

 youngster more than any other bird, and I well re- 

 member one lucky day in Bedfordshire, some six or 

 seven years ago, finding half-a-dozen of these nests 

 in one morning, each containing an egg of the Cuc- 

 koo. Other favourite foster-parents are the Robin, 

 Meadow Pipit, Whitethroat, Reed Warbler and 

 Pied Wagtail. 



The egg is laid on the ground, and carried to the 

 selected nest in the bird's beak, not in the claws as 

 has been erroneously stated. It is the smallest egg 

 laid by any British bird in comparison to its size, 

 being very little larger than a House Sparrow's, or 



