NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 391 



Young's account (pp. 519 — 524) of the habits of the Bearded Tit 

 in confinement as observed by himself. He has kept these birds 

 alive for many years, and has had several nests made and eggs 

 laid at different times, though no young birds were hatched. 



Mr. E. Bidwell (p. 526) gives a long list of birds in whose 

 nests the egg of the Cuckoo has been found. No less than eighty- 

 six species are named, amongst the most remarkable being the 

 Dipper, the Rock Thrush, Fieldfare, Ring Ouzel, Jackdaw, Magpie, 

 Jay, Swallow, Ring Dove, Stock Dove, Turtle Dove, and Little 

 Grebe (!). It would have added much to the value of Mr. Bidwell's 

 list if he had given the particulars relating to the most uncommon 

 foster-parents, for although such details may perhaps be found 

 elsewhere, many of them would have to be looked for, at some 

 inconvenience, in publications not accessible to the general 

 reader. Two cases of young Cuckoos in Swallows' nests have 

 been recorded in ' The Zoologist' (1869, p. 1866; 1877, p. 260), 

 but we should like to have the history of the Cuckoo's egg in the 

 Little Grebe's nest. It is difficult to conceive that the young bird 

 could be reared by such a singular foster-parent, by whom, with 

 intentional kindness, it would be almost certain to be drowned. 

 This leads us to enquire whether any of our readers have been 

 able to observe the fate of young Cuckoos hatched in Reed 

 Warblers' nests over water. Everyone knows that the Reed 

 Warbler's nest is very commonly visited by the parent Cuckoo. 

 In the case of Wagtails, Pipits, and other small birds whose nests 

 are on terra firma, it is also well known that the young Cuckoo 

 quits the nest before it is able to fly, and may be seen at some 

 distance from it being fed by its foster-parents. But what 

 happens when the nest is over water ? Is the young Cuckoo so 

 good a climber that it can get ashore without the aid of its wings, 

 or does it continue to be fed in the nest until well able to fly ? One 

 would expect, under the circumstances, a higher rate of mortality 

 amongst young Cuckoos so situated than amongst their more 

 favoured relatives on dry land. 



Transactions of the Essex Field Club. Vol. III., Part 1. Pub- 

 lished by the Club, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. 1883. 



During the last twenty years we have become aware of the 

 promotion in various parts of the country of a great number of 



