314 Wonders of the Bird World 



nest The Cuckoo seems to be increasing in bulk, and is 

 much agitated, lying at the bottom of the nest. The two 

 young Accentors lay motionless at the bottom of the nest, 

 whilst the Cuckoo kept moving its wings like hands as if 

 to excite or stir its companions into action. In about 

 twenty-five minutes the Cuckoo made two desperate efforts 

 to get one of the young Accentors flung over the edge of 

 the nest, but failed, for when it got the young one to the 

 top it fell back again into the bottom of the nest. Another 

 unsuccessful struggle took place when the mother was on 

 the side of the nest. About eleven o'clock the first young 

 Accentor was put over the edge of the nest, exactly as 

 illustrated by Mrs. Blackburn. The mother was present, 

 but took no notice of the affair going on, but looked on 

 calmly. The second egg was pushed out at one p.m. in 

 the presence of myself, Miss Abbs, and my sister, whom I 

 had specially invited to come and see the proceedings of 

 the young Cuckoo. The last and fourth of the lot we left 

 in the hands of the destroyer. It was sitting almost on 

 the back of the Cuckoo, which had had one try to put it 

 over the edge of the nest, but had failed. At 3.30, when 

 we returned to examine the nest, the young Cuckoo was 

 the sole occupant. 



" The first baby Accentor which had been thrown on to 

 the edge of the nest was still alive, so we put it into a 

 Whitethroat's nest, which had four young ones about a day 

 old, and from all appearances it will be properly attended 

 to by its foster-parents. 



" The Cuckoo's proceeding, as I saw it, is, in my opinion, 

 the most wonderful and unaccountable piece of business 

 that I ever witnessed in bird life. 



u On Saturday, July 5th, I looked into the nest, and to 

 my astonishment the young Cuckoo lay motionless at the 

 bottom of the nest, and I found that it was dead. In all 

 probability it had died from the heat of the sun, for a day 



