PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 4<;i 



in one nest being due to oviposition by two or more hens. (PI. E.) 

 of 626 eggs, meMUied by Eey, -88 x -65 in. [22*4 x 16'5 mm.]. The incubation 

 period lasts for 12-13 days, and soon after it is hatched the young cuckoo proceeds 

 to eject its companions from the nest, hoisting them one by one on its back to the 

 edge and throwing them over the side. [F. c. R. j.] 



5. Food. Various insects and their larvae, notably hairy caterpillars 

 (pp. 485-86) and beetles. It also takes spiders, and occasionally seeds, bud-scales, 

 grass, and the eggs of earthworms and insects (Naumann, Provost, E. Key, 

 Eckstein, Newstead). For the food of the young, see p. 486. [F. B. K.] 



6. Song Period. From April till July (see p. 464). [F. B. K.] 



The following are described in the supplementary chapter on " Rare Birds " : 



Great Spotted-cuckoo, Coccystes glandarius (Linnaeus). 

 Yellowbilled-cuckoo, Coccyztt* americanu* (Linnaeus). 

 [Blackbilled-cuckoo, Coccyzus erythrophthalmw (Wilson).] 



