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



satisfactorily proved to belong to tins bird. Besides the 

 oviduct egg referred to, Mr. Davidson obtained others in the 

 nest of Otocompsa fusciccmdata and Dumetia albigularis. 



Mr. T. R. Bell several times found ^Eyithina typhia feeding 

 young Penlhoceryx, and once found a Cuckooes egg in an 

 lora^s nest which he described as rather like an egg of the 

 foster-parent, but bigger and elliptical in shape. 



. The majority of the eggs I have taken, and which I believe 

 to belong to this Cuckoo, have been found in the nests 

 of Alcipjpe nepalensis and A. phayrii, and 1 have also eggs 

 taken from the nests of Twdinus abbotti, Twdinulus roberti^ 

 StacJiyris nigriceps, Orthotomus sutorius, and Stac/iyridopsis 

 rujijrons. The eggs they most nearly approximate are those 

 of Alcippe, and it is probable that many of this Cuckoo''s 

 eggs are passed over because they are so exactly like the 

 others in the nest. Here adaptation in so far as the Alcippe 

 eggs are concerned may be accepted as practically complete, 

 and in regard to Turdinus and Turdlnulus as quite sufficient 

 to ensure survival. In other cases they may be considered 

 to be mistakenly placed. 



Caconiantis passerinus and C. inerulinus both normally lay 

 eggs wliich can hardly be distinguished from many varieties 

 of Suya eggs that I have already described ; and from the 

 description given it will be seen that when the Cuckoo has 

 had the luck to put its egg in with the right variety of 

 Suya'% egg, it is hard to tell one from the other. As a rule, 

 however, the Cuckoos^ eggs are considerably bigger, more 

 elliptical in shape, and of a somewhat softer and finer 

 texture. 



In eastern India C. merulinus puts its e^^^ in at least four 

 out of every five cases, in the nest of the Suya, and in regard 

 to this bird's egg, ada])tation is as far advanced as we can 

 ever expect it to be. The other fosterers selected are nearly 

 always either Orthotomus or some species of Cisticola. 

 The western form, Caconiantis passerinus, also usually 

 selects these birds' nests for its eggs. In both of these 

 cases the fosterers' and Cuckoos' eggs agree very well, though 

 the latter are much the larger. 



