32 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



back. It seemed evident that it was going to be a tough busi- 

 ness for the Cuckoo to throw the Whinchat out. We left the nest 

 for some time — perhaps for the better part of an hour — and 

 found, on our return, that the Whinchat had been thrown out. 

 We stayed about the nest for some time before it made another 

 attempt to eject the Whinchat when replaced, and it again 

 failed in its attempt. 



June ISth. — Again visited the nest on Baildon Moor by way 

 of Stony Eidge, arriving at nest at 12.30 p.m. ; met Mr. Parkin 

 on Saltaire Bridge, who told me he had just come from the nest, 

 and witnessed the ejection of the only Pipit left and the 

 operation of the ejection of the Pipit's egg, both of which he had 

 replaced in the nest. On my arrival the young Pipit was lying 

 on the rim of the nest ; the egg, however, was still in the nest. 

 I replaced the Pipit in the nest, but the Cuckoo showed no dis- 

 position to eject it for some time. Then I put the young Pipit on 

 to the back of the Cuckoo, but it made no attempt to eject it, but 

 jerked it from its back with a certain degree of irritability. 

 This I repeated several times with the same results. When I 

 placed the egg on its back, the Cuckoo showed no disposition to 

 eject it. I may here state that the weather at this time was 

 quite dull and much colder than yesterday ; this, I thought, to 

 some extent might account for the Cuckoo's inaction. However, 

 I left the nest, and fetched one of the young Whinchats, and on 

 my return to the nest the day was quite sunny. In the 

 meantime the Pipit had again been thrown out, but the egg was 

 still in the nest. I introduced the young Whinchat, when the 

 Cuckoo at once began to show signs of restlessness, and not many 

 minutes elapsed before it had the Whinchat well balanced on its 

 back, and was climbing up the side of the nest. I surmised 

 that the operation was going to be successful, so I immediately 

 began to flatten out the area round the rim of the nest. This 

 I did in order to ascertain whether I could induce the Cuckoo, 

 after having thrown the Whinchat from its back, to push it still 

 further from the nest than it had hitherto done. The Whinchat, 

 having been heaved to the top of the nest and thrown out, the 

 Cuckoo, as usual, kept flapping its wings. At this stage I placed 

 the Whinchat against the Cuckoo, when, with great vigour, it 

 began to press the Whinchat further awayfrom the rim of the nest. 



