80 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUCKOO. 
from the remarks on that bird given in his ‘ History 
of British Animals.’ “In some cases, however,” he 
observes, “it appears that the Cuckoo constructs its 
own nest. Thus, in a manuscript of Derham’s on 
Instinct, communicated by Pennant to Barrington, 
it is stated that ‘the Rev. Mr. Stafford was walking 
in Glossop Dale, in the Peak of Derbyshire, and 
saw a Cuckoo rise from its nest, which was on the 
stump of a tree that had been some time felled, so 
as much to resemble the colour of the bird. In 
this nest were two young Cuckoos, one of which he 
fastened to the ground by means of a peg and line, 
and very frequently for many days beheld the old 
Cuckoo feed these her young ones.’ ” 
In my observations on the Cuckoo, page 69, I have 
pointed out several circumstances which completely 
invalidate Mr. Stafford’s account, to which unfortu- 
nately so much importance has been attached; and 
it is gratifyimg to find that the conclusions there 
arrived at are supported by Dr. Jenner, whose opinion 
will command attention in the view he takes of the 
subject in his “‘ Essay on the Migration of Birds ” *. 
Another supposed instance of a Cuckoo having in- 
cubated its eggs and nourished its young, which had 
escaped my former researches, is given in the octavo 
edition of ‘ Zoonomia’ +, in an extract from a letter 
written by the Rev. Mr. Wilmot, of Morley, near 
* «Transactions of the Royal Society’ for 1824. 
t See the section on “Instinct,” p. 246 e seq. 
