MISOTLLAXEA. 215 



the edge of the nest, but failed, for when it got the young one 

 to the top it fell back again into the bottom of the nest. Another 

 unsuccessful struggle took place when the mother was on the 

 side of the nest. About eleven o'clock the first young Accentor 

 was put over the edge of the nest, exactly as illustrated by Mrs. 

 Blackburn.-'' The mother was present, but took no notice of 

 the affair going on, but looked on calmly. The second egg was 

 pushed out at one p.m., in the presence of myself, Miss Abbs, 

 and my sister, whom I had 'specially invited to come and see the 

 proceedings of the young Cuckoo.. The last and fourth of the 

 lot we left in the hands of the destroyer. It was sitting almost 

 on the back of the Cuckoo, which had had one try to put it 

 over the edge of the nest, but had failed. At 3.30, when we 

 returned to examine the nest, the young Cuckoo was the sole 

 occupant. 



The first baby Accentor which had been thi'own on to the edge 

 of the nest was still alive, so we put it into a Whitethroat's nest, 

 which had four young ones about a day old, and from all appear- 

 ances it will be properly attended to by its foster-parents. 



The Cuckoo's proceeding, as I saw it, is, in my opinion, the 

 most wonderful and unaccountable piece of business that I ever 

 witnessed in bird-life. 



On Saturday, July 5th, I looked into the nest, and to my 

 astonishment the young Cuckoo lay motionless at the bottom of 

 the nest, and I found that it was dead. In all probability it had 

 died from the heat of the sun, for a day or two before, when 

 looked at, the Cuckoo was panting, evidently affected by the 

 heat ; in fact we had shaded it, by placing some Bracken leaves 

 to screen it from the sun, but by some means the leaves had been 

 removed, and the sun's rays fell direct on the young Cuckoo. 



To summarize this account, I may state that the eggs of the 

 Cuckoo and four eggs of the Accentor were found in the nest of 

 the Accentor on the 17th June. On Friday, June 27th, the 

 Cuckoo's egg and two eggs of the Accentor were hatched. On 

 Saturday, June 28th, one attempt to put out Accentor's egg did 

 not succeed. At 10.30 a.ji. first egg was put out of nest. About 



* See •' The Pipits," illustrated by 1. 11. B.. Piute XI. 1872, 



