1 1 6 Instinct and its Lessons 



Good observers, moreover, are of opnion that the 

 Cuckoo lays her eggs on the ground, and then taking 

 them in her mouth, so introduces them into the selected 

 nursery. 1 This, if a fact, makes the economy of the 

 Cuckoo more singular, and distinguishes it more sharply 

 from that of other birds. It would appear, besides, 

 that the parent can, in the interests of its offspring, take 

 account of circumstances. It is no hard matter for the 

 young Cuckoo to obtain sole possession of a Hedge- 

 sparrow's or Pipit's nest, and a monopoly of the food- 

 supply to feed its greater bulk. It might not be so 

 plain sailing for it amid a brood of Blackbirds. It is 

 accordingly a significant circumstance to find, as was 

 found this spring, 2 all the Blackbirds' eggs pierced so 

 as to prevent them from hatching. 



Another strange feature in the history of this remark- 

 able bird, is the fascination it exercises upon its adopted 

 parents. These seem to develop a passion for its 

 welfare more intense than in the case of their own 

 offspring. Not only will they go on feeding it, when it 

 is so much larger than themselves, that they have to get 

 on its back to reach its mouth, but if their bantling 

 happens to be taken from them, they will follow the 

 robber to a great distance, crying piteously. Nothing 

 is more ridiculous than to see a Meadow Pipit labori- 

 ously endeavouring to keep up with a young Cuckoo, 

 who having great power of wing which he has not yet 

 learned fully to control, goes ducking and dipping 

 through the air, like a kite escaped from its string. 

 Nay, according to Mr. Harrison Weir, 3 this fascination 



1 Since the above was written, I have met with conclusive 

 evidence on the point. Mr. Hart, of Christchurch, in his in- 

 teresting museum, exhibits a hen- Cuckoo and her egg which he 

 himself watched her deposit with her bill in the nest of a Wagtail. 

 I have also been told of a Cuckoo being shot, its mouth being 

 found to be full of the yolk of an egg. This the keeper who shot 

 it took to be proof positive that the bird sucks eggs, an accusation 

 often made ; but, while it does not accord with this theory, it 

 gives clear support to the other. 



2 1888. * Bird Stories, p. 17. 



