170 BIRD-PARASITES 



to hatch out to make identity certain ; further, we took 

 a white egg from the nest of the little Ked-vented Tit- 

 babbler (vide fig. 119). The larger egg is that of the 

 Cuckoo. White eggs have been taken by Messrs. Barber, 

 le Vaillant and Jackson. The usual host is the Cape 

 Sparrow, both of us having taken the Cuckoo's eggs 

 coloured like those of the Sparrow from the nests of 

 this bird. This is borne out by the experiences of Ayres, 

 Millar, Roberts, and Sparrow (vide fig. 116, pi. Ixxxviii.). 

 The next commonest host is perhaps the Masked Weaver 

 (Hyphantornis velatus). We took several eggs from 

 their retort-shaped nests, resembling those found in the 

 Sparrows' nests. 



Fitzsimons records having taken a blue egg from the 

 ovary of a female, so it will thus be seen that the evidence 

 regarding the variation of colour, &c., in the egg of this 

 bird, is indisputable. In March, 1903, we took five young 

 Cuckoos from the nests of sparrows, and seven more in 

 January, 1906, from the nests of the Sparrow and the 

 Spotted-backed Weaver. We append a photograph of 

 a young Cuckoo in a sparrow's nest ; the latter has been 

 partly broken open to show the Cuckoo (fig. 119). 



The next five species are all crested birds, the largest 

 being the Great ' Spotted Cuckoo (Coccijstes glandarius), 

 which is a migrant from South Europe, North Africa, 

 and West Persia. 



It is slaty-brown above, the wing-coverts, &c., being 

 tipped with white, giving a spotted appearance to this 

 region ; throat and upper breast pale ochre-yellow, rest 

 of under-parts white. Length 14| inches. 



It has a harsh cry and feeds on caterpillars and insects. 

 Some years it is plentiful in the Fort Beaufort and 

 Albany Divisions of the Cape ; at other times it does 



