150 Darwin and Romanes dealt with. 



of life to lavish, and she does so now and then with- 

 out much hesitation. But how does it happen that 

 so many young singing birds are lost for a single young 

 cuckoo ? " 



This suggests to us a very different notion from 

 that of Mr. Romanes, who too boldly spoke for 

 Mother Nature. Nature, on a broader reading, is 

 perpetually contriving, by the ministry either of 

 special families or special individuals of these fami- 

 lies, to meet, modify, and defeat such plans as those 

 of Mr. and Mrs. Cuckoo. The secret of deserted 

 nests may often, in our idea, be found here. It is 

 certain that not only do some species reject the eggs 

 of the cuckoo, but that, more and more, certain in- 

 dividuals of other species come to reject them, build 

 them over, wrap them round with moss, etc., etc., 

 and refuse to hatch them. See you, the balance of 

 Nature is something, and is preserved in ways so 

 subtle, that such assumptions as those of Mr. Romanes 

 are at once very bold and very blind ; for, in our idea, 

 in precisely other ways than that does Nature work. 

 She is ceaselessly modifying, advancing ; showing by 

 more gradual and subtle processes that species do 

 awaken to the fact of non-production of their own 

 kind through such practices as that of Mr. and Mrs. 

 Cuckoo. And just look for a moment at this fact. 

 The more that these cunning pairs in a district suc- 

 ceed in victimising gullable birds, they reduce exactly 

 in proportion their numbers in succeeding years ; so 

 that they are then compelled more and more to have 

 resource to more doubtful nests, or nests of those 

 birds in which the counteracting instinct has been 

 more fully awakened, and thus the balance is in some 



