ADDITIONAL CUCKOO NOTES. 887 



" It seems not unlikely, too, that the fact that Prima socialis is so fre- 

 quently made the foster-mother, is not simply due to propinquity nor a 

 mere matter of convenience. It may well be that a hen Cuckoo reared 

 in the nest of a Prinia socialis goes of ' propria persona' as Chaucer, 

 himself a bird lover, would say, to the nest of Prinia socialis to get her 

 own young fostered. 



" The young Cuckoo used to be held up to universal contempt for the 

 base ingratitude which he was supposed to show in ousting his fellow- 

 nestlings from the common home. It seems, however, more likely that 

 it is the foster-parents who make away with their own young to pro- 

 vide more room for the fosterling. Their instinct tells them that there 

 cannot be room for all, and it is the weakest that have to suffer. The 

 wonderful correctness of their instinct is fully borne out by the way in 

 which the stitches of a tailor-made nest burst one by one before the rapid- 

 ly increasing bulk of the young Cuckoo, even when only half grown." 



The above was written on the 5th of May 1906 and referred to the 

 previous year's work. 



In October 1906 Professor Burnett again wrote to give me some 

 more information on the same subject. 



He says : " I have only found two nests myself this year containing 

 Cuckoo's eggs, though several of my neighbours have found them. I 

 did not disturb these, as I wished to bring one up if possible, and have 

 so far succeeded as to have one now nearly three weeks old in a cage 

 in my verandah. He is fed by the foster-parents through the bars, 

 but of course they wont be able to continue doing this for ever. Mine 

 is not the only bird, as- the Agent of the Hyderabad branch of the 

 Bank of Bengal has also one, and there was a third which has escaped. 



" All the eggs of Caccomantis j^^sserinus found this year were of 

 exactly the same type and in the nests of Prima socialis, none being- 

 taken here in Orthotomus or P. inornata as far as I have heard. 



"According to my observations, again, this year the Cuckoo has 

 usually deposited her eggs in a nest already occupied, but I cannot say 

 for certain about this, as most of ihose I have seen were found by other 

 people. Also it is the foster-parent who turns out her own youno-. 

 They have to make room and turn out within 24 hours of the Cuckoo 

 being hatched. Finding them on the ground we put them back three 

 or four times in two nests, but it was no good ; they were regularly 

 turned out again." 



