THE CUCKOO. ?85 



of the cuckoo of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds, 

 has given rise to much speculation, ancient and modem, and 

 now, though the fact remains, a sufficiently satisfactory 

 reason seems as remote as ever. The nest of the Hedge- 

 sparrow seems to be the one most often selected, though that 

 of the wagtail is sometimes chosen. The consequences to 

 the young of the native bird, are somewhat serious as the 

 following will show. 

 The Cackoo ^^' Jc'^cfj ^^ discoverer of vaccination 

 and the says: — "On the i8th of June, 1787, I exam- 

 HedBe-Sparrow. ined the nest of a hedge-sparrow {Accentor 

 modularii), which then contained a cuckoo and three hedge- 

 sparrows' eggs. On inspecting it the day following, the bird 

 had hatched; but the nest then contained only a yoimg 

 cuckoo and one hedge-sparrow. The nest was placed so near 

 the extremity of a hedge, that I could distinctly see what was 

 going forward in it; and, to my great astonishment, I saw 

 the young cuckoo, though so lately hatched, in the act of 

 turning out the young hedge-sparrow. The mode of accom- 

 plishing this was very curious; the little animal, with the 

 assistance of its rump and wings, contrived to get the bird 

 upon its back, and making a lodgment for its burthen by 

 elevating its elbows, clambered backwards with it up the side 

 of the nest till it reached the top, where, resting for a moment, 

 it threw off its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged it from 

 the nest. It remained in this situation for a short time, 

 feeling about with the extremities of its wings, as if to be 

 convinced whether the business was properly executed, and 

 then dropped into the nest again. I afterwards put in an 

 egg, and this, by a similar process, was conveyed to the edge 

 of the nest and thrown out. These experiments I have since 

 repeated several times, in different nests, and have always 

 found the young cuckoo disposed to act in the same manner. 

 "It sometimes happens that two cuckoos' eggs are deposited 

 in the same nest, and then the young produced from one of 



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