454  — Observations on the Cuckoo. 
quently happen, that many females have not 
an opportunity of forming a connection with 
the other sex till long after their arrival ; 
for though it is generally asserted that cuc- 
koos do not pair, and hence it may be in- 
ferred that the intercourse between the sexes 
must be greatly facilitated, yet the accurate 
observations of my friend R. G. Baker, Esq. 
certainly render this opinion doubtful. In 
the spring of the present year (1823) he no- 
ticed that a pair of cuckoos frequented the 
same spot for more than a fortnight, and were 
so jealous of the approach of any other bird 
of the same species, that they constantly 
united their efforts to drive away an intruder, 
and always with success. I may add, that 
the male was distinguished from every other 
in the vicinity by the deepness of his note. 
This unquestionably looks like pairing, and 
should at least prevent a hasty decision on a 
point that deserves further investigation. 
Colonel Montagu, from the extraordinary 
fact related by Mr. Jenner, of two hedge 
warbler’s eye's containing living foetuses hav- 
ing been found under a young cuckoo about 
a fortnight old, and from the difficulty which 
he supposes cuckoos would have in meeting 
with nests in a suitable state to receive their 
eggs, if they were compelled to lay them in 
