BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



YOUNG CUCKOO IN MEADOW PIPIT'S NEST. 



N.B. BIRD'S OWN EGGS HAVE BEEN EJECTED. 



Hedge Sparrow, Sedge Warbler, White-throat, Robin, 

 Yellow Hammer, and other small birds. It has 

 been known to deposit its egg in even the nests of 

 such species as Wood Pigeons, Jays, and House 

 Martins, and I am aware of one well-authen- 

 ticated instance of a Cuckoo's egg in a Carrion 



Crow's nest. 

 I have proved 

 by a series of 

 experiments 

 with wooden 

 eggs that it is 

 quite easy for 

 the Cuckoo to 

 impose upon 

 the majority of 

 British birds. 

 Such is the 



passion for brooding that a Starling has been 

 known to hatch out the chick of a common barn- 

 door fowl from an egg substituted for her own clutch. 

 Our full-page illustration is from a photograph 

 of a Pied Wagtail's nest, containing a Cuckoo's egg, 

 which could only be distinguished by its greater size 

 and rounder shape. The nest was situated about nine 

 feet from the ground, amongst ivy growing over a 

 high garden wall. A common summer visitor to all 

 parts of the British Isles. I have noticed that in 

 the more elevated parts of the north of England 

 Meadow Pipits rear more young Cuckoos than all 

 the other foster-parents put together. 

 Materials. None. 



Eggs. It is certain that the bird lays more 

 than one egg ; but although naturalists of good 

 repute have mentioned the number as five, and 



