OF SELBORNE. 30L 



LETTER XXX. 



TO THE SAME. 

 DEAR SIR, SELBORNE, April 3, 1776. 



MONSIEUR HERISSANT, a French anatomist, seems 

 persuaded that he has discovered the reason why 

 cuckoos do not hatch their own eggs : the impediment, 

 he supposes, arises from the internal structure of their 

 parts, which incapacitates them for incubation. Ac- 

 cording to this gentleman, the crop, or craw, of a cuckoo 

 does not lie before the sternum at the bottom of the 

 neck, as in poultry (GaUince), pigeons (Columbce), &c. 

 but immediately behind it, on and over the bowels, so 

 as to make a large protuberance in the belly 1 . 



Induced by this assertion, we procured a cuckoo; 

 and, cutting open the breast-bone, and exposing the 

 intestines to sight, found the crop lying as mentioned 

 above. This stomach was large and round, and stuffed 

 hard, like a pincushion, with food, which, upon nice 

 examination, we found to consist of various insects ; 

 such as small scarabs, spiders, and dragon-flies ; the 

 last of which, as they were just emerging out of the 

 aurelia state, we have seen cuckoos catching on the 

 wing. Among this farrago also were to be seen mag- 

 gots, and many seeds, which belonged either to goose- 

 berries, currants, cranberries, or some such fruit ; so 

 that these birds apparently subsist on insects and fruits: 

 nor was there the least appearance of bones, feathers, 

 or fur, to support the idle notion of their being birds of 

 prey. 



The sternum in this bird seemed to us to be remark- 

 ably short, between which and the anus lay the crop, 



1 Histoire de l'Acadmie Royale, 1752. 



