The Zoologist — June, 18^3. 3579 



on the water, with their necks thrust back on their backs and bills resting on 

 their breasts ; and their feathers, as a rule, are ruffled, jagged and untidy." — 

 G. F. Matheiv; H.M.S. 'Repulse; Coquimbo, February 28, 1878. 



Cuckoo's Egg. — Seeing that there is so much controversy respecting the 

 colouring of the egg of the common cuckoo, I wish to state that out of the 

 very many that I have seen, I have never met with any specimens which 

 materially differ in the colouring ; in fact, with the exception of one, which 

 has a reddish tinge, the only difference I have observed is that some are 

 darker than others. I do not believe that the cuckoo sucks the eggs of other 

 birds, but I do believe that it sometimes carries its own egg in its mouth, and 

 that, at all events, it in some cases deposits its egg from its mouth in the nest 

 of other birds. I have on more than one occasion found the egg of the cuckoo 

 in a nest placed in such a situation as the bird could by no possibility have 

 reached to lay its egg as other birds do. On two occasions I have shot a 

 cuckoo and found a broken egg of its own — broken, no doubt, by the fall — in 

 the bird's mouth ; and, in another case, I picked up a perfect cuckoo's egg 

 lying by the side of a cuckoo I had shot ; of course I cannot say that it came 

 from its mouth. — W. Borrer ; Coicfold, Sussex, May 6, 1873. 



The Cuckoo. — I have read with much interest Mr. Newton's article on the 

 eggs of the cuckoo, as republished in the ' Zoologist ' (S. S. 3505) : he remarks 

 in conclusion, " Hence I am not afraid of hazarding the supposition thai the 

 habit of laying a particular style of egg is likely to become hereditary in the 

 cuckoo." Now J do not see why the presumed habit should be more likely 

 to be hereditary in the cuckoo than in any other species. Mr. Newton, it is 

 true, cites an instance or two of there having been a family likeness found 

 between the eggs laid by the same bird, so that they could be readily 

 distinguished from others ; but these rare — not to say accidental — varieties 

 in the colouring of eggs may arise from different causes, — for instance, the 

 age of the bird or defective organization. The eggs of many birds are found 

 to vary more or less in colour, — those of the common house sparrow, for 

 instance, — though I know of no regular or permanent varieties in any species. 

 Mr. Doubleday states that the eggs of the cuckoo probably vary less than 

 those of any other British bird ; and Mr. Hewitson, who should know some- 

 thing of Brirish birds' eggs, says that the eggs of the cuckoo are " invariably 

 gray or grayish brown, irrorated throughout with darker brown, and marked 

 by minute black spots." He found six out of seven cuckoos laying — i. e. 

 depositing — their eggs in the nest of the hedgesparrow. This, to my mind, 

 is conclusive evidence, and settles the question with regard to selection, for 

 unless as " bUnd as a buzzard," she could not, with respect to the colour of 

 the eggs, make a worse choice. On seeing Mr. Newton's request (Zool. 

 S. S. 3473) that it should be ascertained whether the hedgesparrow has any 

 objection to foster eggs of a colour entirely different to its own, I looked out 

 for a nest, and found one in the garden on the 9th of April, apparently 



