4 



428 



Breiver^s RemorJcs on 



that the mouth is the only means by which a bird can be 

 supposed to convey its egg ? Is it not far more probable 

 that in this instance the egg is conveyed, in the bird's 

 claws ? Improbable as this hypothesis may seem^ it is 

 much less so than any explanation, that has yet been 

 found, for several facts connected with the history of this 

 bird. Thus its egg is very frequently found in the nest 

 of the golden-crowned thrush. Now the formation of 



I 



this nest is such as utterly to preclude the possibility of 

 the cow-troopial ever entering it for the purpose of 

 depositing its egg. " It builds," says Wilson, " a snug, 

 somewhat singular nest on the ground, in the woods, 

 generally on a declivity facing the south. Though sunk 

 below the surface, it is arched over, and only a small hole 

 left for entrance." One of these nests, found in ( 



brido-e by Mr. William T. Rotch. is. frnm mpn<;iirftTi 



ara 



but two inches in diameter. The entrance to the nest 

 has been widened since it was found, but is not now more 

 than one and a half inches wide. The cow-troopial is 

 seven inches in length, eleven in alar extent, and about 

 four through the body. Does it seem more improbable 

 - that the egg is conveyed by the bird, than that a body 

 seven inches long and four thick can introduce itself 

 through a passage one and a half inches wide into a space 

 not more than two inches in diameter ? Mr. Ord might 

 at least have found some other explanation, before he 

 pronounced the only one that has yet been offered, for 



" the most preposterous idea that 



srular 



ever entered the brain of a naturalist." 



Mr 



the opinion advanced by 



an 



addled egg, says ; " I have reason to believe that birds 

 possess no such knowledge; an(^ I am confident that 



-V Jhi 



