NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



both of which are occasionally vic- 

 timised. This puzzle has been satis- 

 factorily solved by the discovery of 

 the real facts. The Cuckoo lays her 

 eggs upon the ground, and, picking 

 them up in her bill, deposits them in 

 the homes of birds whose own produc- 

 tions they will to some extent match 

 in colours. 



Cuckoo's eggs vary very widely in 

 point of coloration. They are usually 

 reddish grey, mottled and spotted closely 

 with darker markings of the same 

 colour, or pale greyish - green marked 

 with spots of a darker hue. I have met 

 with them matching in colours those of 

 the Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, and 

 Reed Warbler so closely that they were 

 scarcely discernible except for their larger 

 size, and a blue specimen has been found 

 in the nest of a Hedge Sparrow. 



Some naturalists are of opinion that 

 a Cuckoo is able to lay an egg of any 

 colour at will, whilst others favour the 

 opinion that if an egg closely resembles 

 in point of coloration those of the bird, 

 say a Tree Pipit, in whose nest it has 

 been placed, that young Cuckoo's grand- 

 father and grandmother were also reared 

 by Tree Pipits. 



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