FACTS IN THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE CUCKOO. 205 
o'clock the first young Accentor was put over the edge of the 
nest, exactly as illustrated by Mrs. Blackburn.* The mother 
was present, but took no notice of the affair going on, but looked 
on calmly. The second egg was pushed out at one p.m., in the 
presence of myself, Miss Abbs, and my sister, whom I had 
specially invited to come and see the proceedings of the young 
Cuckoo. The last and fourth of the lot we left in the hands of 
the destroyer. It was sitting almost on the back of the Cuckoo, 
which had had one try to put it over the edge of the nest, but 
had failed. At 3.30, when we returned to examine the nest, the 
young Cuckoo was the sole occupant. 
The first baby Accentor which had been thrown on to the 
edge of the nest was still alive, so we put it into a Whitethroat’s 
nest, which had four young ones about a day old, and from all 
appearances it will be properly attended to by its foster-parents. 
The Cuckoo's proceeding, as I saw it, is, in my opinion, the 
most wonderful and unaccountable piece of business that I ever 
witnessed in bird-life. 
On Saturday, July 5th, I looked into the nest, and, to my 
astonishment, the young Cuckoo lay motionless at the bottom of 
the nest, and I found that it was dead. In all probability it had 
died from the heat of the sun, for a day or two before, when 
looked at, the Cuckoo was panting, evidently affected by the 
heat ; in fact, we had shaded it, by placing some bracken leaves 
to screen it from the sun, but by some means the leaves had 
been removed, and the sun’s rays fell direct on the young 
Cuckoo. 
To summarize this account, I may state that the eggs of the 
Cuckoo and four eggs of the Accentor were found in the nest of 
the Accentor on the 17th June. On Friday, June 27th, the 
Cuckoo’s egg and two eggs of the Accentor were hatched. On 
Saturday, June 28th, one attempt to put out Accentor’s egg did 
not succeed. At 10.30 a.m. first egg was put out of nest. About 
11 a.m. the first young Accentor was pushed out. At 1 p.m. the 
second egg was pushed out in the presence of three witnesses. 
The last of the lot, the second young Accentor, was removed 
_ between 1 and 8 o’clock p.m., during the time I was away or 
absent. 
* See ‘ The Pipits,’ illustrated by J. H.B., Plate XI. 1872. 
