248 LEAVES FROM A GAME BOOK. 



My host of Dan-y-Park is blessed with extraordinary 

 quick eyes, educated by long practice for the discovery 

 of anything in the shape of a nest, and chiefly by 

 their aid he has put together a very fine collection 

 of eggs in clutches, to which I was enabled to make 

 a contribution in the shape of a cuckoo's egg, taken 

 under the following circumstances : — 



In May, 1894, I was spending a few days at 

 Netherfield with the late Sir Charles Booth, and, a 

 shower coming on while I was in one of the gardens, 

 I took shelter in a potting house, where I found 

 Ricketts, the head gardener, and while watching him 

 at work, a cuckoo flew just over the low roof of the 

 building and dashed directly and without the least 

 faltering into a robin's nest we both knew of in some 

 ivy on a wall about twelve yards from us. 



'* Lor, sir, did you ever see the like of that 1 " 

 exclaimed Ricketts. " She had her egg in her mouth." 



On hearing this, I dashed forward, cap in hand, 

 to try and "bottle" the cuckoo, and certainly five 

 seconds did not elapse between seeing the bird enter 



