388 BRITISH BIRDS. 



no evidence to show that the young Cuckoos when hatched attempt to 

 eject the other nestlings, and they have been several times observed living 

 in apparent peace with their distant relations. 



The eggs of the Great Spotted Cuckoo are very pale bluish green in 

 ground-colour, spotted and blotched with light brown and with numerous 

 underlying markings of violet-grey. On some specimens these underlying 

 spots are more numerous than the surface ones ; and the markings are 

 generally pretty evenly distributed over the whole surface, but most nume- 

 rous at the larger end of the egg. I have a very fine specimen in my 

 collection which, though otherwise rather sparingly marked, has a ring of 

 streaks and scratches and spots of rather rich brown and one or two 

 underlying streaks of lilac round the large end. They vary from 1-35 to 

 1-2 inch in length, and from 1-05 to -93 inch in breadth. Although the 

 eggs of this bird bear considerable superficial resemblance to those 

 of the Common Magpie, they may be distinguished from them by the 

 reddish instead of olive-brown colour of the surface-markings, and by the 

 numerous grey underlying markings. They are also on an average smaller 

 and rounder. 



Small birds apparently are as suspicious of this Cuckoo as they are of 

 the common one, and never let slip an opportunity of mobbing it, and 

 with a chorus of cries endeavour to drive it away from their vicinity, pro- 

 bably mistaking it for a bird of prey, although they have no need to 

 dread its visits. 



The adult male Great Spotted Cuckoo is adorned with a handsome 

 crest, which, with the rest of the head and the ear-coverts, is slate-grey. 

 The rest of the upper parts are brown, suffused with slate-grey on the 

 rump, and the feathers conspicuously tipped with white on the scapulars, 

 wing-coverts, wings, and tail, but almost obsolete on the primaries and 

 two centre tail-feathers. The colour of the underparts is nearly white, 

 the feathers of the throat and breast having black shafts. Bill black, 

 paler at the base of the lower mandible ; legs, feet, and claws slate-grey ; 

 irides brown. The female differs from the male in having a somewhat 

 smaller crest, and in having the ground-colour of the primaries chestnut. 

 The male of the year resembles the female, but has the head and nape 

 dark brown, the crest only slightly developed, and the throat, breast, and 

 under tail-coverts suffused with chestnut. Birds in first plumage scarcely 

 differ from birds of the year, but are somewhat darker on the underparts. 



