212 The World-Evidence. 



cuckoo in the beginning of August, but have never 

 seen it in October. 



" I have taken many eggs of Coccystes glandarius 

 in Algeria, and a few in Palestine, but I have always 

 found the eggs of the foster-parent sound and good. 

 I have found four cuckoo's eggs, and only two of the 

 African magpie in the nest, and all fresh. In Pales- 

 tine there are no magpies, and we only found the 

 cuckoo's eggs in carrion crows' or jackdaws' nests — 

 not in jays', though these are very common. (This 

 does not prove that they do not use the jay's.) I 

 have myself taken a blue cuckoo's egg from a night- 

 ingale's nest, at home. 



" On referring to an old note, I see I had a cuckoo 

 of the year brought me in October. This was in 

 Galilee." 



If, therefore, we say that in Palestine the common 

 cuckoo is found there from the ist of April to, say, 

 the end of August, this gives five clear months — 

 abundant time to rear a brood. 



As a proof of how well certain of the Glandarius 

 species can match their eggs with those of the birds 

 in whose nests they lay them, the following may be 

 cited from Professor Alfred Newton : 



" In the autumn of 1857, I had received from Mr. 

 Tristram all the eggs collected by him in Algeria 

 during the preceding season. When they were un- 

 packed, it appeared that there were two more speci- 

 mens of the egg of a large North-African cuckoo 

 (Oxylophus glandarius) than I had been led by him 

 to expect. On examination I found that the first two 

 eggs of this species which had been obtained by him 

 so much resembled eggs of the magpie of the country 



