Mr. ^ohn Craig's Facts. 47 



again, when the one that was in possession began to 

 hoist it once more on its back, and climbed up the 

 side of the nest backwards, and threw it out of the 

 nest, which it had little difficulty in doing, as the bird 

 was so weak from want of food. We then put the 

 weak bird into the nest again to give it a chance to 

 recover, and took the other one away with us for 

 about an hour. We then put it into the nest again, 

 when the weak bird made several attempts to eject its 

 companion, but it was too feeble. It then acted on 

 the defensive, by lying in a canted position by keeping 

 the side that was next its opponent downwards, with 

 one of its legs stretched out , and its claws against the 

 opposite side of the nest. We then bolstered up the 

 nest to give the weak bird a chance to recover. On 

 the following day I again visited the nest, but the 

 weak bird had disappeared altogether. The parent 

 birds paid no attention whatever to the young cuckoo 

 when outside the nest, even although sitting at the 

 side of it." 



These facts, from a very reliable field-ornithologist, 

 taken in connection with others we have given, 

 suggested the question : 



Is it possible that instinct as to birds from the same 

 mother cuckoo in one nest indicates the cases in which 

 two cuckoos in one nest lie apparently quite amicably 

 together, while those from different hens bear them- 

 selves toward each other precisely as they do to the 

 legitimate birds of the nest ? — try to turn each other 

 out and fight till the strongest prevails ? Mr. Craig 

 believed that in above case the eggs were from different 

 hens. 



We cannot, at all events, see anything whatever in 



