Y.N.U. Meetings of the Vertebrate Zoology Section. 31 
At twelve noon on June 24th, the five eggs were still intact in the nest, 
ibut at 5-10 p.m., one young Hedge-Sparrow was out of the shell, and at 
II p.m. on the same day another Hedge-Sparrow and the young Cuckoo 
had hatched, and were quite dry. Another Hedge-Sparrow hatched out 
in the afternoon of the following day, and there were no further development 
that day, the remaining egg not being fertile. The next morning (June 
26th), the egg had disappeared, and a very careful search in the vicinity 
of the nest failed to discover any trace of it. The same evening the young 
Cuckoo became very restless, and made several unsuccessful attempts to 
eject the young Hedge Sparrows; but it only succeeded in working its 
victim to the level of the top of the nest, when both fell forward. Arriving 
at 7 a.m. on June 27th, Mr. Fowler was greatly disappointed to find the 
three young Hedge Sparrows hanging on the outside of the nest. Two, 
however, not being dead, were revived by the warmth of his hands, and 
were put back into the nest, when the mother-bird returned, fed them and 
brooded them, and actually walked over the dead young one on her way. 
One of the youngsters that had been returned to the nest, died, and through- 
‘out that day, during the intervals when the mother-bird was away from 
the nest, the Cuckoo was constantly endeavouring to throw out the living 
young Hedge Sparrow. On several occasions the Cuckoo got its foster- 
brother to the top of the nest, when the strugglings of the latter caused 
it to fall back again. 
On arriving at 6-45 a.m. the following day, the young Hedge Sparrow 
was out of the nest, but still alive, and was returned once more to its 
rightful home. The young Cuckoo (whose body was now of a blue-black 
colour, having chanved from the pale flesh colour when first hatched), 
was very businesslike in its methods, and wriggled its head about from 
side to side in a remarkable manner for a young bird. It worked its young 
foster-brother on to its back (which Mr. Fowler considered to be flat and 
broad, and without any preceptible hollow), walked up the nest side 
backwards with its immature wings outstretched, ‘ and threw the youngster 
right clear of the nest into my hands, which were waiting to receive it.’ 
After this operation the young Cuckoo remained for a minute or so at the 
top of the nest, its embryo pinions outstretched, jerking its body back- 
wards and forwards in a most energetic way. Mr. Fowler saw the young 
Hedge Sparrow ejected quite a dozen times during that day, but the 
following morning (June 29th), at half-past six it was lying cold and dead 
below the nest. Neither the young Cuckoo nor the old birds attempted 
to remove the nestling that had died within the nest, and after three 
days, when it had got somewhat flattened, and was smelling, Mr. Fowler 
threw it out. 
During the whole of these protracted’ observations Mr. Fowler never 
saw any adult Cuckoo near to the nesting site. 
Mr. Fowler also shewed a charming series of lantern slide views of the 
nesting of the Ringed Plover. One very fine picture shewed that the 
mother-bird, rather than face the camera too closely, had called away, 
and was contentedly brooding a newly-hatched young one a yard from the 
three eggs, some of which were already ‘ chipped,’ and a young chick could 
be distinctly heard by Mr. Fowler calling within the shell. 
Professor Patten exhibited about a dozen glass-phials, each containing 
sections of a large Earthworm in spirits. These had all been obtained from 
Song-Thrushes whilst in the act of dividing them. Prof. Patten shewed 
that even in this simple and everyday action the Thrushes had method. 
Each worm was divided into four almost equal sections, or was bitten 
nearly through into four almost equal portions. In one or two of the 
examples shown where the bird had not fully completed the operation 
before the worm was taken away, there were only three sections, consisting 
of two quarters and one half. Prof. Patten also threw upon the screen 
a series of lantern views of shore birds and cliff birds, taken by instan- 
taneous telephotography on the Irish coast. Although lacking the beauty 
and clear outline of the ordinary photograph, they had the merit of show- 
igti Jan. 1. 
