482 THE CUCKOO 



cuckoos until they reach a certain age. A good example is provided 

 by Mr. J. H. Gurney. On June 3, at 12.30 P.M., a young cuckoo, 

 thirty-two hours old, was found alone in the nest, its fellow-nestlings, 

 two young hedge-sparrows, lying dead on the rim. One was put back, 

 but no attempt was made to eject it, though the young cuckoo showed 

 signs of restlessness. On June 4, at 7.45 A.M., a pied- wagtail's egg 

 was put in the nest with the same result, and some minutes later a 

 nestling was substituted for the egg, but the cuckoo still made no 

 serious effort. At 2 P.M. "a lively young wren" was put in, against 

 which the cuckoo " immediately commenced proceedings," but failed 

 to hoist it even on to the rim. It failed twice on the following day, its 

 last attempt being made at the age of three days ten hours, after 

 which its desire to evict ceased. 1 It might from this be inferred that 

 the hedge-sparrows found outside the nest on June 3 were not ejected 

 by the young cuckoo, but here again the inference amounts to no 

 more than a supposition. The fact remains that there is as yet no 

 convincing evidence that the parent cuckoo has been seen to perform 

 the act of eviction, and with anything short of such evidence we have 

 no right to be satisfied. 2 



There is good evidence, on the other hand, that the infant cuckoo 

 can eject eggs and nestlings before it is two days old. The first ejec- 

 tion witnessed by Jenner took place within twenty-four hours of the 

 birth of the cuckoo. He found the nest, on June 18, with three 

 hedge-sparrow's eggs and one cuckoo's. The next day all were hatched, 

 and the three hedge-sparrows ejected. The ejection of the third was 

 witnessed by Jenner. 3 He also states that he saw one nestling cuckoo 

 make its first attempt to eject another nestling cuckoo " a few hours 

 after birth one morning." 4 It did not succeed in effecting its purpose 

 till the following afternoon, but still within the two days' limit. The 

 ejections above described, witnessed by Mr. Hudson, took place, 

 either within or not much after forty-eight hours. This evidence is 



1 Zoologist, 1905, 164. * Zoologist, 1899, 135, for a statement by another. 



' Op. tit, p. 225. Op. cit., p. 238. 



