168 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



which the Cuckoo at once hoisted up as before and almost 

 ejected. 



2 p.m. Once more put the young Wren into the nest, 

 which the Cuckoo at length got under, and tried to eject, but 

 this was its last performance. As it was only about three 

 days and ten hours old its desire for ejecting other nestlings 

 ceased much sooner than in some of the young Cuckoos 

 experimented upon by Dr. Jenner (I. c. p. 226), but it is not 

 to be supposed that strength and vigour is the same in all 

 Cuckoos. 



6th. — The Cuckoo, now about four days four hours old, and 

 still the same black colour, is growing fast. The rapidity of its 

 growth is all the more marvellous when one considers the small- 

 ness of the egg it has come from — a smallness which must be of 

 great utility to Cuckoos in reconciling the dupe to the charge of 

 their eggs. There is no longer any perceptible cavity in its 

 back, but the creases on its skin are as noticeable as on the day 

 when it was hatched. 



1th. — The young Cuckoo now almost fills the nest ; its eyes 

 are beginning to open, its ear apertures are large, and the skin 

 of its head and back is blacker than ever. The Accentor is very 

 reluctant to feed it in my presence. 



8th. — Weighed the Cuckoo ; it is 1|- oz., and is nearly covered 

 with sprouting quills. Its rate of growth has been nearly double 

 that of some young Wrens and Linnets, which after all is not 

 much to be wondered at, for it probably receives the food of five 

 birds. 



9th. — The dead nestling Accentor which has been lying beside 

 the nest since the 3rd has disappeared. To see what would 

 happen, I put the other dead Accentor into the nest, but in a few 

 hours it also had gone. To-day, for the first time, an adult 

 Cuckoo was sitting within about forty yards of the nest. 



10th. — The young Cuckoo is now old enough to strike at an 

 intruder, an instinct presumably intended to terrify predacious 

 animals, which in some cases might be drawn to the nest by the 

 scent of the dead nestlings. Its appearance at such times is 

 most ferocious, and is eminently calculated to excite fear ; even 

 a boy will instinctively draw his hand back, and a Mouse or a 

 small Rat would be frightened away. 



