3476 The Zoologist — April, 1873. 



them to have done so. There remains only the theory that the 

 parents (uitlier those of the pipits, or those of the cuckoo) must 

 have done the deed. Of the pipits, there can surely be no ques- 

 tion ; indeed, in my opinion, in the case before us one can lay the 

 blame solely and entirely on the cuckoo, and indeed on the female 

 bird. 



" Again : not far from Darasun, where several cuckoos had been 

 killed a short time before, we found in the month of June, in a 

 nest with a young cuckoo, a young pipit nearly full-grown. The 

 young cuckoo could not yet leave the nest, nor did he even know 

 how to make his escape out of it, to get away from us ; so he sat still 

 in his place, and hissed at us; whilst the young pipit could already 

 run, and was just preparing to slip out of the nest away from us. 

 In this case it must be assumed that there was none near at the 

 proper time who could cast out the young pipit. 



" Again : in one and the same nest, we found two cuckoo's eggs, 

 the colouring of which entirely differed, the one from the other. 



" Again : in a nest of Piiyllopneuste fuscata we found a 

 cuckoo's egg, green speckled with black, like that of Uragus 

 sibiricup, which (as is well known) will not receive the egg of the 

 cuckoo, but will rather destroy the nest, and remove its materials ; 

 but near the aforesaid nest, lay the eggs of the Phyllopneusle, of 

 a pure white colour. 



"Again; we often found damaged nests, some even torn asunder; 

 the eggs of which were not eaten, but for the most part lay around, 

 at a little distance from the nests, broken. 



" The above facts, as well as many other cases, cause us to express 

 the following opinions upon the cuckoo : — 



" {(I.) The female cuckoo lays her eggs in the nests of other birds ; 

 she does not cast out the eggs of those birds intentionally, and if 

 this should sometimes happen it ought to be considered as done 

 by accident. ^ 



" {b.) Every female cuckoo has her own district, and certain 

 chosen nests, in which to lay her eggs. If she sees that another 

 female cuckoo comes near this district, then she pursues it, and 

 drives it away : but if the other female cuckoo is able to slip into 

 such a district without being seen, then it may well come to pass 

 that two cuckoo's eggs may be laid in one and the same nest. 



" (c.) With the spoiling of the nests and scattering of the eggs 

 we must not charge the female, but in every case the male cuckoos, 



