Vol. xlii.] 94 



1. Do Cuckoos return yearly to the same breeding-ground? 



In reply to the first question we may now, without hesi- 

 tation, say that Cuckoos do return year after year to the 

 same area, whether this be to a small and restricted area as 

 in the case of Messrs. Chance's, Scholey's, and Owen's birds, 

 or whether it be some very much larger area, as happens with 

 some of our Indian and Australian Cuckoos both migratory 

 and resident. In the latter case the word " return " is, 

 perhaps, hardly applicable, but even resident species of 

 Cuckoo wander greatly in the non-breeding season, whilst, 

 once they have started breeding, the ground they cover is, 

 as a rule, much more circumscribed. It is, therefore, 

 unnecessary to discriminate between them. Instances of 

 such return are now almost innumerable, and really all that 

 it seems necessary for me to sa}-^ is that, in so far as our 

 Indian C-uckoos are concerned, they certainly show an 

 attachment to their breeding-ground similar to that displayed 

 by Cuculus canorus canorus. This I have been able to 

 personally prove in regard to C. c. bakeri, Clamator coro- 

 mandus and C.jacobinus, Cacomaiitis vierulinus and C.passer- 

 inus, and Hierococcyx sjmrveroides. True, I have never been 

 able to identify the bird other than by the eggs, but this 

 identification will probably be accepted in most species as 

 sufficing for the purpose. I have not amongst my exhibits 

 to-night brought much to show especially this trait, but 1 

 would refer you to the series of Cuckoos taken three years 

 running by Mr. Scholey in the nests of Acrocephalus 

 scirpaceus, and of which you will find a fourth year's eggs in 

 Mr. Chance's series. Again, if you examine the collection 

 made by Dr. Williams, of Hereford, you will find year after 

 year the same ])ird returning and laying in the surroundings 

 of the same village — in some instances their returns covering 

 over 10 years. These eggs are in Boxes 1, 2, and 3 of my 

 exhibit, which show eggs laid in the nests of Wagtails, 

 Robins, and Hedge-Sparrows respectively. As regards 

 Indian CackooS; yon will find similar occurrences amongst 

 the eggs of nearly all the genera and species exhibited. 



