390 Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker on the Evolution of 



slie was tired of carrying tliem about in her mouth any- 

 longer. 



We also find that the egg of this Khasia Hills' Cuckoo 

 generally assimilates well witli those of the smaller Thrushes, 

 Cl)ats, Forktails, etc., with which it is ofteu placed, more 

 particularly with those oi Notodela,Henicm-us,a,nd Rhyacomis, 

 birds of which three genera are usually selected to have the 

 honour of hatching the young Cuckoo. 



On the whole, therefore, it appears that the foster-pai'ents 

 of the Khasia Hills' Cuckoo have achieved some success 

 in the process of elimination of eggs contrasting with 

 their own, but there is still much to be done, and they 

 are greatly handicapped by the fact that so many of the 

 foresters selected are themselves variable in the colours 

 of their own eggs. 



Cuculus microjHerus is a bird about which I will say 

 nothing, for, though I think that there is no doubt that this 

 Cuckoo lays a blue e^^, like the blue type of egg of Cuculus 

 canorus canorus, it is not yet so proven beyond all question. 



Cuculus saturatus is a Cuckoo of which we have oviduct 

 eggs, and the very few eggs of this bird found in nests are 

 practically all exactly of the same ty})e, i. e. pure white ellip- 

 tical eggs, with a few tiny specks of reddish scattered over the 

 whole surface. These, so far as we know, are generally laid 

 in the nests of Warblers, such as Phylloscopus trochiloides, and 

 other birds which lay either pure white eggs or white eggs 

 more or less spotted. Osmaston, however, found two eggs 

 in nests of Niltava sundara, and I have taken an e^^ from 

 the nest of this species and others from nests of Sfoparola 

 and Henicurus, and one from the nest of a Pomatorhinus. 



Of C. saturatus, therefore, we may say that she has had 

 her eggs adapted to those of the class of the foster-parent 

 most often victimised, but that she still occasionally gets 

 other birds to accept and hatch her eggs. 



Cuculus iioUocephahis. — In regard to this bird also we are 

 on quite safe grounds in drawing conclusions, for here, too, 

 we need only base our conclusions upon eggs which are 

 identical in all respects with oviduct specimens. These are 



