CUCKOO NOTES 161 



the flight that the bird was a cuckoo. Below 

 the pile of faggots, on the ground, lay the 

 scattered remains of the eggs, and the 

 cuckoo, before laying her solitary egg in 

 the nest, had apparently sucked all four 

 of them. 



I feared that the hedge sparrows would 

 desert the nest, which now surely was but 

 an empty mock, with its one alien egg. In 

 the ordinary way one will find the cuckoo's 

 egg amongst the others, in some cases ex- 

 changed for one belonging to the nest. 

 When the young cuckoo is hatched, he 

 displays great irritation if anything touches 

 his back, and will not rest till the other 

 occupants of the nest, whether eggs or 

 fledgelings like himself, are cast out. The 

 parent birds show an indifference to these 

 unfortunates, and all their efforts are for 

 the intruder. 



Thus I was considerably surprised to 

 find that the female sparrow was sitting 

 on the strange egg. Had I, before the 



