ORDER SCANSORES. 529 



old, it loses the desire of throwing out its companions, and 

 after that period it has not been observed to disturb them. 

 It has been also remarked, that the cuckow would much 

 sooner suffer eggs in the nest along with it than yovmg ones. 

 A cuckow of nine or ten days old has been frequently known 

 to chase out a little bird, which had been put into the nest 

 with it, while it never touched an egg which had been placed 

 there at the same time. The peculiar configuration of the 

 young cuckow renders it very fit for the performance of the 

 operation we have described. Different from that of other 

 birds, the upper part of its body, from nape to rump, is 

 very broad, with a perceptible depression in the middle. It 

 would seem that this depression was made for the very pur- 

 pose of securing, more effectually, the eggs, or the young 

 birds, which the cuckow is desirous of throwing over ; for as 

 soon as it has attained its twelfth day, this cavity becomes 

 completely effaced, and its back does not differ in any respect 

 from that of other birds. The obligation which the young 

 cuckow seems to be under of rejecting the eggs or the little 

 ones of its adoptive parent from the nest, may be alleged as a 

 reason why the female cuckow always takes care to lay in the 

 nests of small sized birds. The same observer, whom we last 

 mentioned, found in the same nest two cuekows, and one 

 warbler, which had been disclosed in the morning. There 

 still remained a warbler's egg. In some hours, the two 

 cuekows began to dispute possession of the nest, and their 

 dispute lasted until the afternoon of the next day, when the 

 cuckow that was a little more bulky than the other, suc- 

 ceeded in flinging out the latter and the young warbler, and 

 the egg along with it. Their dispute was remarkable. The 

 combatants appeared alternately to have the advantage, and 

 each, in succession, carried his antagonist to the edge of the 

 nest, from which he fell back into the bottom, overwhelmed 

 under the weight of his burthen. At last, after many efforts, 



VOL. VII. M M 



