92 Further Facts and some Results. 



such a district without being seen, then it may well 

 come to pass that two cuckoo's eggs may be laid in 

 one and the same nest. 



" (c). With the spoiling of the nests and the scat- 

 tering of the eggs we must not charge the female, but 

 in every case the male cuckoos, which probably adopt 

 these means to force their mates to a prolongation of 

 the pairing time. (Verlangerung der Paarungszeit.) 



" {d). After hatching, the female cuckoo turns the 

 young of her nurse out of the nest, in order to secure 

 a more certain existence for her own offspring." 



It should be noted that at this time the reports of 

 observations of Mrs. Blackburn and Mr. Hancock 

 were not yet published, or, at all events, well known ; 

 and, it should be emphatically repeated, that cuckoos 

 in different climates and latitudes may and do act 

 quite differently ; though with these commentaries, 

 Mr. C. Smith's carefully observed facts and his infer- 

 ences, as well as the facts cited from Dr. Dybowski, 

 may well be modified and fall into range exactly. 



A writer in Science Gossip a short time ago raised 

 an important question in the following passage : 



" I was one evening, about seven o'clock (it was 

 almost midsummer) searching for the nest of a grass- 

 hopper warbler, whose note I had heard in a certain 

 field on several successive evenings. While thus en- 

 gaged, I saw a cuckoo, followed by a grey wagtail, 

 flying over a neighbouring wood. After a few 

 minutes the wagtail returned, and I went in that 

 direction, but failed to find her nest. On the follow- 

 ing evening I was again engaged seeking the grass- 

 hopper warbler's nest, and I again saw the cuckoo 

 pursued by the wagtail. 



