216 ' MISCELLANEA. 



11 A.M. the first young Accentor was pushed out. At 1 p.m. the 

 second egg was pushed out in the presence of three witnesses. 

 The last of the lot, the second young Accentor, was removed ' 

 between 1 and 3 o'clock p.m., during the time I was away or 

 absent. 



These observations, though they may seem to be a repetition 

 of the accounts given by Dr. Jenner, Montagu, Mrs. Blackburn, 

 and other accurate observers, are nevertheless necessary in these 

 days, for in the minds of some ornithologists it seems to be still 

 an undecided question, How the young Cuckoo gets the young 

 of its foster-parents from the nest? I have before had an op- 

 portunity of ascertaining the fact, and expressing my full belief 

 in the accounts given by Dr. Jenner, Col. Montagu, and others, 

 as stated in my Catalogue, p. 26, but till last summer I had not 

 had a successful opportunity of watching the whole process so 

 carefully as I was able to do on that occasion. 



Since these observations were made my attention has been 

 directed to the following quotation from Mr. Henry Seebohm's 

 " History of British Birds," Vol. II., p. 383 :— 



''It has been said, on what appears to be incontestable evi- 

 dence, that the young Cuckoo, soon after it is hatched, ejects the 

 young or eggs from the nest by hoisting them on its back; but 

 one feels inclined to clam these narratives ivith the eqiMlly well- 

 authenticated stories of ghosts and other apparitions which aloundy 



The facts observed with much care, and minutely narrated in 

 this note, support the "incontestable evidence" given by Dr. 

 Jenner, Montagu, and Mrs. Blackburn, so fully and conclusively, 

 that I am at a loss to understand how any one who has not per- 

 sonally investigated and observed this habit of the young Cuckoo, 

 could allow himself to express so strong an opinion as Mr. See- 

 bohm has done in the Italicised portion of the above quotation. 



There are still many points in the life-history of this interest- 

 ing summer visitor which require to be worked out accurately. 

 There are many questions regarding it which no ornithologist is 

 able to answer satisfactorily, as for instance : 



Is it the male or female Cuckoo that produces or utters the 

 well-known familiar note, or both ? 



