234 THE CUCKOO. 



LETTER LXXII. 



TO THE SAME. 



SELBORNE, April 3, 1776. 

 DEAR SIR, 



MONSIEUR HERISSANT, a French anatomist, 

 seems persuaded that he has discovered the reason 

 why cuckoos do not hatch their own eggs ; the im- 

 pediment, he supposes, arises from the internal struc- 

 ture of their parts, which incapacitates them for 

 incubation. According to this gentleman, the crop, 

 or craw, of a cuckoo, does not lie before the sternum 

 at the bottom of the neck, as in the galling, columbce, 

 &c. but immediately behind it, on and over the 

 bowels, so as to make a large protuberance in the 

 belly *. 



Induced by this assertion, we procured a cuckoo ; 

 and, cutting open the breast-bone, and exposing the 

 intestines to sight, found the crop lying as men- 

 tioned above. This stomach was large and round, 

 and stuffed hard, like a pin-cushion, with food, which, 

 upon nice examination, we found to consist of various 

 insects ; such as small scarabs, spiders, and dragon- 

 flies ; the last of which we have seen cuckoos catch- 

 ing on the wing, as they were just emerging out of 

 the aurelia state. Among this farrago also were to 

 be seen maggots, and many seeds which belonged 

 either to gooseberries, currants, cranberries, or some 

 such fruit ; so that these birds apparently subsist 

 on insects and fruits ; nor was there the least appear - 



* Histoire de V Academic Roy ale, 1752 



