2 24 OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS. 



clod, and in such a position as strongly to 

 favour the opinion of some naturalists that the 

 Cuckoo first lays her eggs and then deposits 

 them with her bill in the nest. 



Considering the amount of attention which 

 has been bestowed upon the Cuckoo by natural- 

 ists in every age down to the present, one 

 would suppose that every fact in connection 

 with its life-history was now pretty generally 

 known. Such, however, is not the case. There 

 are still certain points which require investiga- 

 tion, and which, owing chiefly to the vagrant 

 habits of the bird, are not easily determined. 



How can it be ascertained with certainty, 

 for example, whether the same hen Cuckoo 

 always lays eggs of the same colour, or whether 

 (admitting this to be the case) she invariably 

 lays in the nest of the same species — that is, in 

 the nest of that species whose eggs most nearly 

 approximate in colour to her own ? 



And yet we must be satisfied on these points 

 if we are to accept the ingenious theory of Dr. 

 Baldamus. If we understand the learned 



