252 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



birds, and entrust its young to the fostering care of those 

 species best adapted to bring them to maturity. Thus 

 we see, midway between the vernal equinox and summer 

 solstice, the female bird prying about all suitable situa- 

 tions in search of nests in which to deposit her eggs. 

 Now coursing down the hedgerows, prying into the deep 

 underwood, or flitting uneasily from tree to tree, her 

 mate singing a short distance away. We often, too, see 

 her at this season upon the ground, and I may say that 

 from what I have observed the Cuckoo usually lays her 

 egg on the ground and then conveys it to the selected 

 nest ; but whether the bird conveys the egg in her bill 

 or claws I am unable to say. 



The nests selected are numerous, but from my own 

 observation the nest of the unassuming Hedge Accentor 

 is most frequently chosen. I have, however, known her 

 egg in the small and extremely beautiful nest of the 

 lesser Redpoll ; and the various ground birds, as Pipits 

 and Wagtails, are ofttimes selected. When her egg is 

 deposited irrsuch small nests and difficult of access, she 

 must of necessity convey them either in her bill or claws, 

 for her large size prevents her entering the nest for her 

 purpose. I am surprised that so much doubt hangs 

 round the eggs of this bird, and the theories put forth 

 by many naturalists on the subject are, to say the least, 

 absurd. The egg, as is well known, is very small in 

 comparison to the bird, being no bigger than a large- 

 sized Skylark's, and very much the same in general ap- 

 pearance. All authentic eggs which have come before 

 my own notice are very similar, both in size and mark- 

 ings ; and I deny altogether that the Cuckoo has the 

 power of laying eggs at will of such a colour as to har- 

 monise with those in the selected nest. Even if such 

 were the case no end would be served, for after numerous 



