NO. 4 AVIAN GENUS CLAMATOR — FRIEDMANN 43 



A question that may arise from a perusal of this situation, and that 

 merits some discussion is the following. It may be asked whether the 

 striking difference in the degree of correlation between the egg num- 

 bers of the great-spotted cuckoo and of its hosts in the parasitized 

 nests of the latter on the two sides of the Sahara might be explained 

 by assuming that the sub-Saharan cuckoos do not have the habit of 



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Number oF Cervui cjji per ncil 



Fig. 10. — Distribution of Clamator glandarhis eggs in Corvus nests in the 

 Mediterranean area, and the number of instances of each particular combination 

 of egg numbers. 



removing one or more of the hosts' eggs when laying in the nest, 

 as their Mediterranean counterparts are known to do. Against this 

 explanation we may note that the egg-removing habit is also known 

 in C. jacohinus, the most primitive member of the genus, and in C. 

 coromandus, while lack of evidence on this habit in C. levaillantii 

 cannot be looked upon as implying its absence. In other words, it 

 appears to be a basic part of Clamator behavior, and it would be 

 surprising if one population of the most advanced member of the 

 genus no longer showed it. Furthermore, in numerous parasitized 



