244 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
These two eggs were precisely alike, both in size, outline, and colour. I 
took them both. When passing the place about a week afterwards I 
again looked into the reed-beds, and found a third Cuckoo’s egg, an exact 
facsimile of the two previously obtained. I took this egg, and in 
another nest of the Reed Warbler, containing only one of its own eggs, 
I substituted an egg of the Sedge Warbler, taking that of the Reed 
Warbler away with me. The next morning’I went to see if the bird had 
forsaken, and was astonished to find a fourth egg of the Cuckoo placed 
alongside the single Sedge Warbler’s egg in the Reed Warbler’s nest. This 
egg also exactly resembled the three already obtained, and it should be 
mentioned that all these four eggs of the Cuckoo were deposited within a 
space of about 200 yards. Without rushing to any conclusions, I think 
we have here pretty strong, though purely circumstantial, evidence that 
the Cuckoo lays more than one egg during the season, and it would also 
appear, unless evidence ta the contrary is forthcoming, that the eggs 
forming the Cuckoo’s clutch resemble each other, as is generally the case 
in most clutches of other birds’ eggs. It is well known that the Reed 
Warblers lay two distinct types of egg, a dark variety and a light variety ; 
the former, by far the most common, being thickly blotched with a dull 
green on a white ground; the latter, which I think is rare, having very pale 
purple blotches on the white ground. I have only seen two nests of the 
Reed Warbler containing the latter type of egg, and, strange to say, two 
out of the four Cuckoos’ eggs obtained were deposited alongside these pale 
varieties. From this it might appear that the Cuckoo selected these nests 
purposely, in order to assimilate as much as possible her egg with those 
already in the nest. I may mention that the four Cuckoos’ eggs were all 
very light-coloured, not unlike those of the Pied Wagtail, but essentially 
differing from the first-mentioned dark variety of the Reed Warbler. With 
regard to the time when the young Cuckoo moults, on August 6th last 
year I got a young bird in the usual dull red and barred plumage; it had 
flown against the light at Souter Point (electric) I.ighthouse at 2 a.m. that 
day, and had killed itself. What was it doing there at that time of 
day, if not migrating? The man at the lighthouse thought it was a 
Sparrowhawk.—ALFRED CrawHaLL CHApman (Sunderland). 
The Note of the Female Cuckoo.— Some observers have expressed 
their belief that the female Cuckoo, like the male, utters the well-known 
call—a minor third sung downwards. In some excellent observations on 
the habits of this bird, published in the ‘ Magazine of Natural History’ 
(vol. vill. pp. 325-340), the late Mr. Blyth remarked .—‘‘ The common and 
more generally known note, Cuckoo, is alike repeated either when perched 
or on the wing, and, Lam fully confident in my own mind, by both sezes ; 
but I will not speak quite positively on this point till I have myself 
examined a female which had been heard to sing. It is the decided 
