THE PIE KIND. 215 



(the extremities of its wings) I have often seen it 

 examine, as it were, an egg and nestling before 

 it began its operations; and the nice sensibility 

 which these parts appeared to possess, seemed 

 sufficiently to compensate the want of sight, 

 which as yet it was destitute of. I afterwards 

 put in an egg; and this, by a similar process, 

 was conveyed to the edge of the nest, and thrown 

 out. These experiments I have since repeated 

 several times in different nests, and have always 

 found the young cuckoo disposed to act in the 

 same manner. In climbing up the nest it some- 

 times drops its burden, and thus is foiled in its 

 endeavours ; but, after a little respite, the work 

 is resumed, and goes on almost incessantly till it 

 is effected. It is wonderful to see the extraordi- 

 nary exertions of the young cuckoo, when it is 

 two or three days old, if a bird be put into the 

 nest with it that is too weighty for it to lift out. 

 In this state it seems ever restless and uneasy. 

 But this disposition for turning out its compa- 

 nions begins to decline, from the time it is two 

 or three, till it is about twelve days old, when, 

 as far as I have hitherto seen, it ceases. Indeed, 

 the disposition for throwing out the egg appears 

 to cease a few days sooner ; for I have frequent- 

 ly seen the young cuckoo, after it had been 

 hatched nine or ten days, remove a nestling that 

 had been placed in the nest with it, when it suf- 

 fered an egg, put there at the same time, to re- 

 main unmolested. The singularity of its shape 

 is well adapted to these purposes ; for, different 

 from other newly hatched birds, its back, from 



