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FACTS IN THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE CUCKOO. 
By Joun Hancocx.* 
For many years I have been desirous of observing the habit 
of the young Cuckoo at the time when it was just hatched, and 
when it was busy in ejecting the eggs and young of its foster- 
parent from the nest. During my stay at Oatlands in the 
summer of 1884 I am glad to say that a favourable and satisfactory 
opportunity occurred of making this observation. 
I began in June to search the grounds carefully for as many 
nests as I could find that were likely to have Cuckoos’ eggs in 
them, and was fortunate enough to find one in a spot convenient 
for making continued observations, on the 17th June, 1884, 
The Cuckoo’s egg was in the nest of a Hedge Accentor, con- 
taining four of its own eggs, and built in a bramble-bush near the 
bottom of the sloping terrace at Oatlands. I tried the Cuckoo's 
egg and one of the Hedge Accentor’s in water, to ascertain if 
they were fresh or sitting. The former floated, denoting that it 
was sitting ; the latter, sinking to the bottom, was, of course, fresh. 
On the 25th June I examined the nest. No change had 
taken place. There were still the one Cuckoo’s egg in the nest 
and the four Accentor’s. 
On Friday, the 27th June, I looked at the nest at three 
o’clock in the afternoon, and the Cuckoo’s egg was hatched, and 
one of the Accentor’s. At twenty-five minutes to six o’clock I 
looked at the nest again, and another Accentor’s egg was hatched. 
On Saturday morning, 28th June, I rose early, and went to 
the nest at twenty minutes to four o’clock a.m. All was quiet, 
and the old bird on the nest. At two minutes past five o’clock 
saw into the nest. There were just the young Cuckoo, the two 
young Accentors, and the two eggs. A few minutes after five 
o'clock the young Cuckoo attempted to put an egg out of the 
nest, by getting it on to its back in the most clumsy manner ; 
but it did not succeed in getting the egg high enough to roll it 
over the edge of the nest. Immediately after this proceeding 
* “Note on the habit of the young Cuckoo in ejecting the eggs and 
young of its foster-parent from the nest, observed by John Hancock, at 
Oatlands, Surrey, in June, 1884.” Reprinted from Nat. Hist. Trans, of 
Northumb, and Durham, vol, viii, 
