THE CUCKOOS AND THE OUTWITTED COW-BIRD 35 



from the nest to die. It is a pretty well es- 

 tablished fact that the cuckoo of Europe delib- 

 erately ousts its companion fledglings — a fact 

 first noted by the famous Dr. Jenner. And Dar- 

 win has even asserted that the process of ana- 

 tomical evolution has especially equipped the 

 young cuckoo for such an accomplishment — a 

 practice in which some accommodating philo- 

 sophic minds detect the act of " divine benefi- 

 cence," in that " the young cuckoo is thus in- 

 sured sufficient food, and that its foster-brothers 



thus perish before they have acquired much feel- 



■ )) 

 ing. 



The following account, written by an eye-wit- 

 ness, bears the stamp of authenticity, and is 

 furthermore re -enforced by a careful and most 

 graphic drawing made on the spot, which I here 

 reproduce, and fully substantiates the previous 

 statement by Dr. Jenner. The scene of the 

 tragedy was the nest of a pipit, or titlark, on the 

 ground beneath a heather-bush. When first dis- 

 covered it contained two pipit's eggs and the egg 

 of a cuckoo. 



" At the next visit, after an interval of forty- 

 eight hours," writes Mrs. Blackburn, " we found 

 the young cuckoo alone in the nest, and both the 

 young pipits lying down the bank, about ten 



