42 MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



building no nest, or is the bird gradually retro- 

 grading to the evil ways of her notorious name- 

 sake ? 



The evidence of this generic physiological pe- 

 culiarity in the intervals of oviposition, taken in 

 consideration with the fact of the rudimentary 

 nest, would seem to indicate the retention of a 

 now useless physiological function, and that the 

 bird is thus a reformer who has repudiated the 

 example of her ancestors, and has henceforth de- 

 termined to look after her own babes. 



With the original presumed object of this re- 

 markable prolonged interval in egg -laying now 

 removed, the period will doubtless be reduced 

 through gradual evolution to accommodate itself 

 to the newly adopted conditions. The week's in- 

 terval, taken in connection with the makeshift 

 nest or platform of sticks, is now a disastrous 

 element in the life of the bird. Such of the 

 cuckoos, therefore, as build the more perfect nests, 

 or lay at shortest intervals, will have a distinct 

 advantage over their less provident fellows, and 

 the law of heredity will thus insure the continual 

 survival of the fittest. 



The cuckoo is not alone among British birds 

 in its intrusion on other nests. Many other spe- 

 cies are occasionally addicted to the same prac- 



