ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 131 



paper I narrated an instance of a Cuckoo hatched in a Reed- 

 Warbler's nest being fed by a Thrush. Cuckoos, however, which 

 have not found a caterer for their wants are occasionally picked 

 up dead, and one was brought to me this summer which I suppose 

 had met its death from that cause. We had another young 

 Cuckoo at Keswick, and it was noticed that the interscapulary 

 feathers were the last ones to sprout, being still in their sheaths 

 when the Cuckoo had become almost too big for its domicile, 

 which in this case was again a Hedge-Sparrow's nest. The back 

 and not the interscapulary region is employed, I believe, in the 

 ejection of young birds by the Cuckoo ; but I have never 

 witnessed this singular operation, and there can be no connec- 

 tion between it and the growth of the feathers. 



13th. — Bullfinches, as usual, nested in our box-hedge, which I 

 have never known to be without a Bullfinch's nest ; and here I may 

 remark on the gratifying increase in this species of late years. 

 Goldfinches are slowly increasing, as well as Tree-Sparrows and 

 Hawfinches, but unfortunately the House-Sparrow also. It is not 

 only Hawfinches which rob us of our peas, but actually sometimes 

 House-Sparrows. In addition to their other delinquencies, they 

 will bore through the pod of "Sutton's Eingleader," pull the pea 

 out, and fly off with it to some adjacent apple-tree. Their beaks 

 are very strong, and here they apply them first to one side of the 

 pod and then to the other, until it generally gives away about the 

 middle, and a small hole is sufficient for extracting the peas, 

 which the proprietor and his gardener can watch them enjoying. 

 Bullfinches are inimical to the garden, but they are also very 

 fond of privet-berries and elder-berries; so they should not be 

 too hastily shot down, for there is often a superabundance of 

 fruit-buds, while in January they eat the buds of the larch. 



14th. — Two clutches of Shoveler Duck's eggs, taken respec- 

 tively at Woodbastwick and Lynford, have been hatched out under 

 hens at Keswick by Mr. E. Knight. At fourteen days the beak 

 showed a perceptible widening, which at twenty-one days had 

 become marked, and the beak was also very long. Unfortunately 

 all but three died, and the largest of these at eight weeks old 

 showed the blue speculum on the wing ; while at nine weeks 

 the bills had grown very much, and were disproportionately large 

 compared to their bodies. Their gradual assumption of plumage 



