292 Birds. 



When the hedge-sparrow has set her usual time, and has 

 disengaged the young Cuckoo and some of her own 

 offspring from the shell, her own young ones and any of 

 her eggs that remain unhatched are soon turned out: 

 the young Cuckoo then remains in full possession of the 

 nest, and is the sole object of the future care of the foster 

 parent. The young birds are not previously killed, nor 

 are the eggs demolished; but they are left to perish 

 together, either entangled in the bush that contains the 

 nest, or lying on the ground beneath it. On the 18th 

 June, 1787, Dr. Jenner examined a nest of a hedge- 

 sparrow, which then contained a Cuckoo's and three 

 hedge-sparrow's eggs. On inspecting it the day follow- 

 ing, the bird had hatched : but the nest then contained 

 only a young Cuckoo and one hedge-sparrow. The nest 

 was placed so near the extremity of a hedge, that he 

 could distinctly see what was going forward in it ; and, 

 to his great astonishment, he saw the young Cuckoo, 

 though so lately hatched, in the act of turning out the 

 young hedge-sparrow. The mode of accomplishing this 

 was curious ; the little animal, with the assistance of its 

 rump and wings, contrived to get the bird upon its back, 

 and making a lodgment for its burden by elevating its 

 elbows, climbed backward with it up the side of the 

 nest, till it reached the top ; where, resting for a moment, 

 it threw off its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged it 

 from the nest. After remaining a short time in this situa- 

 tion, and feeling about with the extremities of its wings, 

 as if to be convinced that the business was properly 

 executed, it dropped into the nest again. Dr. Jenner 

 made several experiments in different nests, by repeatedly 

 putting in an egg to the young Cuckoo, which he always 

 found to be disposed of in the same manner. It is very 

 remarkable that nature seems to have provided for the 

 singular disposition of the Cuckoo in its formation at 

 this period ; for, different from other newly-hatched birds, 

 its back, from the scapulse downward, is very broad, with 

 a considerable depression in the middle, which seems 

 intended for the express purpose of giving a more secure 

 lodgment to the egg of the hedge-sparrow or its young 

 one, while the young Cuckoo is employed in removing 



