Birds. 3987 



nests of eggs in the mysterious manner before mentioned, is a cala- 

 mity requiring great fortitude of mind to bear calmly. 



Wm. H. Slaney. 

 Hatton Hall, Salop, July 4, 1853. 



On the Reproduction of the Greater Spotted Cuckoo, (Cuculus 

 glandarius, Linn.) By A. E. Brehm.* 



It is well known to have been hitherto undecided whether Cuculus 

 glandarius sits upon its own eggs or not. Even I myself, notwith- 

 standing my somewhat lengthened sojourn in Africa, could for a long 

 time learn nothing certain on the subject. I was well acquainted 

 with the bird, its laughing magpie-like cry, and all its habits ; and I 

 knew that it usually dwelt among the thick, low, Mimosa-woods in 

 which it is to be seen, generally in battle with another individual of 

 its own species, as it flies, quick as an arrow, through the thickest 

 bushes. 



On the 5th of March, 1850, my deceased brother, Dr. Vierthaler, 

 and myself, collected seven examples of the greater spotted cuckoo in 

 a Mimosa-wood near Siut, in Upper Egypt. Among them was a fe- 

 male, with a fully-developed egg in the oviduct. Unfortunately, this 

 egg was destroyed by the shot, and exhibited only broken fragments ; 

 these, which we sorrowfully contemplated, were bright green in co- 

 lour, with darker brownish spots. 



Here, however, was a slight advance towards a knowledge of the 

 eggs, at least towards ascertaining the breeding- time, which, in Africa, 

 varies so greatly, and is not confined to any particular month. Yet 

 two years more went by ere I became clearly acquainted with the his- 

 tory of the mode of reproduction of this bird. On the 2nd of March, 

 last year, I for some time attentively watched the motions of a greater 

 spotted cuckoo in a garden near Thebes, in Upper Egypt. At last, I 

 saw it slip into a large nest, placed upon a rather low Salicaria tree. 

 After rather more than a quarter of an hour out it flew again, and 

 straightway departed from the garden. I climbed up to the nest, and 



* Translated from Dr. Cabani's ' Journal fur Ornithologie,' part 2, for the present 

 year, and communicated by Philip Lutley Sclater, Esq., who observes that the article 

 " is worthy of the attention of British ornithologists, as, according to Mr. Yarrell, 

 ' every ascertained fact in the reproduction of the species among the cuckoos is a mat- 

 ter of interest.' " 



