Vol. xlii.] 100 



If you oxamino Boxes No. 40 to 42 you will find eggs 

 of two or three different individual Cuckoos in the same 

 clutch, and I have personally frequently seen two or more 

 Eudynamis working not only the same area, but the same 

 tree. For instance, in my own gnrden in Dacca, there 

 were about a dozen large Mango-trees, and in these trees 

 perhaps 20 or 30 Crows' {Corvus s. splendens) nests, and in 

 these nests the eggs of at least four different Koels. 



The answer to this question seems to be : " Where 

 Cuckoos are not common they do not share breeding-areas, 

 but, where they are at all numerous, two or even several 

 Cuckoos may be found sharing the same. 



4, How many eggs do Cuckoos lay in a season ? 



I believe that some Cuckoos lay a great many eggs, 

 possibly any number between a dozen and twenty. . 



In proof of this we have Mr. Chance's, Scholey's, and my 

 own series of fourteen upwards. But I also think that, as 

 in other families, so in the Cuculidse, one genus may lay 

 more than another, and even one species m'ore than another 

 species. Thus Cucidus canorus, Clamator coramandvs, 

 C. jacohinus, and Hierococcijx varius would appear to be 

 extraordinarily prolific, whilst Cuculus optatus,C. intermedins, 

 and Ilierococcyx nisicolor cannot lay nearly as many eggs. 

 Again, if we consider the beautiful little Cuckoos of the 

 genus Chalcococeyx, it would seem incredible that they should 

 normally be able to find sufficient nests of the rare Sun-birds, 

 which they victimize to enable them to provide homes for 

 more than a few of their eggs. 



5. At what intervals do Cuckoos lay ? 



As regards Cucidus canorus, Mr. Chance has fully 

 answered the question, and all my series of this species 

 endorse what he has said and written. It is true that my 

 eggs have not been taken with the extraordinary regularity 

 with which Mr. Chance obtained his, but the dates on which 

 the first and last eggs have been taken, when considered in 



