no ROUND THE YEAR 



arrival. I never could procure an egg till after the 



middle of May. 1 



" The Cuckoo makes choice of the nests of a great 

 variety of small Birds. I have known its egg 

 intrusted to the care of the Hedge-sparrow, the 

 Water-wagtail, the Titlark, the Yellow-hammer, 

 the Green-Linnet, and the Whinchat ; 2 among 

 these it generally selects the three former, but 

 shows a much greater partiality to the Hedge- 

 sparrow than to any of the rest. The Hedge-sparrow 

 commonly takes up four or five days in laying her 

 eggs. During this time (generally after she has laid 

 one or two) the Cuckoo contrives to deposit her egg 

 among the rest. When the Hedge-sparrow (or other 

 Bird) has sat her usual time, and 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, which is commonly hatched first, remaining 

 possessor of the nest, and sole object of her future 

 care. The young Birds are not previously killed, nor 

 are the eggs demolished ; but all are left to perish 

 together, either entangled about the bush which 

 contains the nest, or lying on the ground under it. 



11 June 1 8, 1787, I examined the nest of a Hedge - 



1 The Cuckoo is said by Dr. Rey to lay an egg every other 

 day (sometimes every day for a short time) from the middle of 

 May to the middle of July. 



2 To this list we may add the Wren, the Red-backed Shrike, 

 the Bunting, and the Redstart. There is a fuller list in Harting's 

 Summer Migrants, pp. 222-3. No fewer than 1 10 species of 

 birds are recorded as having been known to hatch the eggs of 

 the Cuckoo. 



