44 Life History of Common Cuckoo. 



ash. On one of these occasions I was told they both 

 Hve.d till they were a considerable size, and then one 

 died, instead of being ejected by the other young 

 cuckoo as might have been anticipated. The two on 

 Household were in a titlark's nest, and what added 

 very much to the discovery was the circumstance of 

 an addled cuckoo's egg with the young cuckoos. 

 There must, therefore, if there was no mistake about 

 it, have been three cuckoo's eggs at one time in the 

 nest, a portentous prospect indeed for the poor lark ! " 

 On the other hand, we have the following para- 

 graph : 



The Tables Turned. 



An Epsom contributor to Nature Notes writes, 

 September, 1898 : — " I believe that when a cuckoo 

 deposits her eggs in another bird's nest, the intruder, 

 as soon as it is big enough, ousts the rightful nest- 

 lings. But early in June an instance to the contrary 

 occurred in my garden. 1 was sitting under a tree, 

 on the trunk of which 1 knew there was a sparrow's 

 nest and young birds, as I had watched the old birds 

 going to and fro. There was a sudden clamour and 

 disturbance, and a young cuckoo was jerked out of the 

 nest, and fell, with rather a heavy thud, close to my 

 feet. There had been violent measures before the 

 expulsion, for there was blood upon its beak, and 

 after a few gasps — showing its bright orange mouth 

 and throat — it died in my hand. The nest was too 

 high — it was eight or ten feet from the ground — for 

 me to look into it, but it would be interesting to have 

 known how many sparrow beaks it took to serve the 

 ejectment." 



