VOL. XV.] ANOTHER CUCKOO RECORD. 185 



undoubtedly goes overboard. So far as I was able to gather 

 I had twenty-three pairs of Reed-Warblers nesting on this 

 particular Cuckoo's territory this year and, curiously enough, 

 at the end of June there were nineteen in one stage of occupa- 

 tion or another. This nineteen, of course, includes all, from 

 those building to those containing youngsters ready to fly. 

 I mention this as a coincidence to the actual finding of 

 nineteen eggs. The only assistance I had was that of my 

 friend Mr. H. Turner, who is associated with me in business 

 and to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for the large amount 

 of work he put into the job. I have decided that the most 

 fitting receptacle for this series of nineteen eggs is alongside 

 the series of twenty-one laid by the Meadow-Pipit Cuckoo 

 of Mr. E. P. Chance last year. Mr. Chance wiU be pleased 

 to afford an opportunity to all naturalists who are genuinely 

 interested in the subject to call and examine these eggs for 

 themselves. 



I would just like to touch once more upon the marvellous 

 regularity of this Cuckoo. On three occasions in 1920 I 

 did not disturb her egg, which on each occasion I found 

 with two fosterers' eggs. The Cuckoo's egg was in each case 

 the first to hatch due to its not being deposited until the 

 fourth egg of the fosterer was laid. It is not until the Reed- 

 Warbler has her fourth egg that she begins to sit, consequently 

 the Cuckoo's egg being deposited on this day also, is never 

 allowed to get cold, with a result that it is the first to hatch. 

 Last season these three eggs only took thirteen days to 

 incubate, the young Reed-Warblers were hatched the next 

 morning, viz., fourteen days, and in each case were hoisted 

 out of the nest during the evening of the same day they 

 were hatched. The young Cuckoo by this time would be 

 roughly thirty-six hours old. 



It is very interesting to see how zealously the hen Reed- 

 Warbler guards the Cuckoo's egg given into her charge. One 

 can approach a nest of highly incubated eggs a dozen times 

 without seeing the hen Reed-Warbler sitting ; but immediately 

 she becomes possessed of the Cuckoo's egg she will almost 

 allow one to lift her from the nest. 



In conclusion, I am convinced that where the male Cuckoo 

 accompanies the female on her egg depositing business it is 

 for protection. This has been particularly noticeable in 

 other cases where I have had Cuckoos under observation, 

 especially where the fosterers are of a pugnacious nature 

 such as Robins, Wagtails, etc. A little tragic incident will 

 not be out of place here, as I have reason to believe that my 



