The Bird Book 



given rise to the belief that they suck eggs to 

 keep their voices clear ! 



On one occasion I saw a Cuckoo's egg in a 

 Robin's nest, which not only contained no other 

 eggs, but apparently was not completed, and there 

 were signs that the presence of the mysterious 

 egg had caused the Robins to desert. Sometimes 

 two Cuckoos' eggs are found in the same nest. 

 It is, of course, impossible to say whether they 

 are laid by the same bird, but it would, however, 

 be interesting to see the duel between the two 

 young birds for sole possession, after the rightful 

 inmates had been ejected, as it is hard to suppose 

 they would live amicably together. 



Many fallacies concerning the Cuckoo have 

 been cleared up of recent years, but there are 

 still many points on which the bird baffles 

 inquiry. How many eggs does it lay ? A well- 

 known authority states that a single bird can produce 

 from seventeen to twenty-two, though it is difficult 

 to see what are his grounds for the assertion. 

 Others give the number as five. One thing, at 

 any rate, is certain ; the males greatly outnumber 

 the females in this country, and the bird is poly- 

 androus. The cry of the female is different to 

 that of the male, which alone " tells his name to 

 the hills around." That of the female is a peculiar 

 gurgling sound, unlike that of any other British 

 bird, and, when uttered, sets all the males in the 

 neighbourhood calling. How familiar the sound 



