JUNE. 



171 



Although we have accomplished this much, we have not yet 

 proved in any way why the egg is so very small in comparison with 

 the size of the bird ; but my friend, Mr. John Craig, to whom I shall 

 shortly refer, has ventured to put forward an explanation of this by 

 stating that he considers it is for the purpose of quick incubation, 

 and to allow the egg to be deposited in bird's nests' which are 

 smaller than the Cuckoo, and also to allow the Cuckoo to carry the 

 egg in her bill to its destination without breaking itl 



No. 2. 

 THE YOUNG CUCKOO. 



right at top of nest. The young bird just about to fall over. It will be noticed in this 



photograph that the Cuckoo has its wings extended to keep the young bird from rolling 



back into the nest, and the manner in which it has placed its legs in order to get a firm 



grip is also worth a careful study. 



I have entitled these notes "The Early Life of the Young 

 Cuckoo," and do not therefore propose to enlarge on the life and 

 habits of the adult bird, but to proceed to describe a most interesting 

 series of experiences and experiments with some young Cuckoos 

 which Mr. Craig so succesfully carried out during the Summer 

 of 1899. 



Up to the date of Mr. Craig's valuable observations, considerable 

 doubt existed as to how the young Cuckoo ejected its foster brothers 

 and sisters, or the eggs, out of the nest in which it happened to be 



