61 [Vol. xliii. 



"fantastic and altogether fallacious" I cannot say, as 

 there is a very large amount of evidence to support it ; 

 and I am sure Mr. Chance does not for a moment infer 

 that because the one or more Cuckoos he has watched 

 placed their eggs in the nest in one manner, therefore all 

 Cuckoos must do the same. I would also point out that 

 it is hardly fair of Mr. Chance to say there is no evidence 

 on the subject, merely because he has not read it. 



Mr. Chance refers to and deprecates the casual collection 

 of eggs, and I am in complete accord with him in what he 

 says. There is no doubt that work carried out on the abso- 

 lutely scientific lines and methods adopted by Mr. Chance 

 is of the greatest value, and I hope it will be taken as 

 an example by oologists and egg-collectors ; but at the 

 same time I would warn them that they must be very careful 

 not to fall into the mistake of trying to draw general con- 

 clusions from the acts of two or three birds. A knowledge 

 of Cuckoos, their eggs, and their life-history can only be 

 obtained in a wide degree by the consideration of many 

 Cuckoos in different countries. 



Before closing, I must briefly refer to Mr. Chance's 

 remarks on the Cuckoo's conception of her egg. I am 

 afraid I cannot follow this, but I think our doctor friends 

 will tell us that it is not possible for the finding or non- 

 finding of a suitable nest to in any way retard or advance 

 conception and the development of an egg in the ovaries. 



There have been some remarks on my use of the word 

 " regurgitate." Perhaps I am not quite correct in using 

 this term, but what 1 mean to infer is merely that the bird 

 holds her egg in her gullet somewhere between her beak 

 and the lower part of the throat. Any of you who have 

 examined the Cuckoo's bill and throat will be aware that 

 the bill itself is extraordinarily soft and pliant, and that the 

 skin of the throat is loose and capable of great extension. 

 We are fully aware, from the result of other observers* 

 work* and from what I have seen myself, that in many 

 instances the Cuckoo does carry her egg in her bill or 

 throat for some time before depositing it in the nest. 

 Again, that she sometimes lays her egg in the most 



