101 [Vol. xlii. 



relation to the condition of the eggs themselves, prove that 

 they average out at one every other day. Mr. Scholey seems 

 to think that in 1921 one of his Cuckoos laid on every third 

 day only, but he proved to his own and my satisfaction that 

 this same individual laid every alternate day in 1919 and 

 1920, so that his more recent alleged discoveries hardly 

 affect the matter. The same appears to hold good with 

 Clafhator, Eiidynamis, and other species of Cuculus ?indi Hiero- 

 coGcyx. We have not much evidence as to the smaller 

 Cuckoos, but what little we have would rather prove that 

 Chalcococci/x, Clirysococcyx, Surniculus, Cacomantis, and 

 other small Cuckoos lay every day. This, however, is 

 perhaps much what we should expect. Two eggs of 

 Cacomantis laid by the same bird and taken by myself 

 were laid on consecutive days. Some of the eggs of 

 Cacomantis passerinus taken by Professor K. Burnett in 

 Hyderabad seem also to have been laid on consecutive 

 days, and the same applies to eggs of Chalcococcyx macu- 

 latus taken by Messrs. Chas. M. Inglis and A. M. Primrose 

 in Goalpara. Probably the answer to our fifth question is, 

 roughly — The bigger Cuckoos lay on alternate days, the 

 smaller every day. 



6. How do Cuckoos deposit their eggs in other birds' nests? 



There is no doubt that in the vast majority of cases the 

 egg is laid by the Cuckoo elsewhere, and deposited by means 

 of the bill in the foster-parent's nest. I exhibit paintings of 

 nests of some species of birds in which Cuckoos' eggs are 

 deposited. Now, it is obvious that the Cuckoo (C. canorus) 

 could not sit in these nests, and that the only way in which 

 they could possibly be placed therein would be by the bill. 

 But it is not necessary to go to India for examples of nests 

 of this nature, for frequently the nests of Wrens, and 

 occasionally nests of Chiff-chaffs, Willow-Wrens, and other 

 birds have had Cuckoos' eggs deposited in them without nny 

 damage having been done either to their external structure 

 or to their small entrances. Col. Rattray, in the Murree 

 Hills, took Cuckoos' eggs placed in nests of Fhylloscopus 



