82 BRITISH BIRDS. 



young bird is hatched, it is generally found there en- 

 tirely alone, its foster-mother attending most assiduously 

 to its wants. Here there are several circumstances to 

 which Dr. Jenner gave particular attention. 



It was found that the small birds, in the nests of which 

 the cuckoo commonly deposits her egg, take four or 

 five days in laying them, and that generally after two or 

 three of these are laid, she accomplishes her purpose. 

 As the cuckoo is commonly hatched first, the remaining 

 eggs, and young, if any, are turned out of the nest, and 

 are left to perish. This, strange to say, the intruder 

 effects, being generally strong enough for the task the 

 dav after it is hatched, thus securing to itself the whole 

 provision brought by the old birds. The following is 

 an extract from Dr. Jenner's paper, published in the 

 Transactions of the Royal Society: — 



" Two cuckoos and a hedge-sparrow were hatched in 

 the same nest this morning : one hedge-sparrow's egg 

 remained unhatched. In a few hours after, a contest 

 began between the cuckoos for the possession of the 

 nest, which continued undetermined till the next after- 

 noon ; w^hen one of them_, which was somewhat superior 

 in size, turned out the other, together with the young 

 hedge-sparrow and the egg. This contest was very re- 

 markable. The combatants alternately appeared to 



