22 General Notes on the Cuckoo. 



a bird what don't lay its own eggs ; ' some of us 

 may still believe that the newly-hatched Cuckoo 

 swallows its foster-brothers and sisters, ultimately 

 changing into a Hawk and swallowing its foster- 

 parents also. Briefly stated, the truth about the 

 Cuckoo appears to be something like this : The 

 birds do not pair, but the hen does lay her own 

 eggs, and about a score of them, extending the lay- 

 ing period over about six weeks. She lays them on 

 the ground, then taking them in her bill, deposits 

 them without permission in the nests of other birds. 

 There are over a hundred species of European 

 birds in whose nests she has been known to place 

 them, but she has her favourites, and the first half- 

 dozen of these appear to be the Hedge-Sparrow, 

 Redbreast, Reed Warbler, Meadow Pipit, Garden 

 Warbler, and Whitethroat. Very often the parent 

 appears to have a keen eye for colour, and places her 

 freckled eggs w^here they will not contrast strongly 

 with those laid by the foster-parent elect ; but this 

 is by no means invariably the case. In comparison 

 with her size the Cuckoo lays a small egg, but this 

 may be due to a consideration of convenience 

 in respect to carriage. The gape of the bill ex- 



