The Early Life of the Young Cuckoo. 1 1 



Six snapshots were taken at various stages, and 

 two of the most successful are here reproduced. 

 By this time the Cuckoo was five or six days old and 

 the Yellow Bunting was about three or four, and it 

 should be remembered that for the first few" days the 

 young Cuckoo is quite blind. 



The nest was then stretched out (it should be stated 

 that the nest of the Meadow Pipit is built on the 

 ground), to try and save the young Yellow Bunting, 

 but on visiting the nest the following day (June 13) 

 the bird was found lying dead outside. 



The next visit was paid on June 17, when a young 

 Hedge Sparrow was placed in the nest to see what 

 further performances would take place, but the two 

 birds sat quite contentedly together, and the follow- 

 ing day (June 18) they were still living quite amic- 

 ably. On June 19 both birds were progressing very 

 rapidly, and it seems strange that the bird, who 

 would not allow anything to be beside it only a few 

 days previously, now allowed a young bird to live 

 in harmony with it. When the young Hedge Spar- 

 row was put into the nest it would be about eight 

 days old and the Cuckoo ten or eleven days. 



About the same time as the above-mentioned in- 



