NOTES AND QUERIES. 355 



laid, and he thinks that where a Cuckoo's egg only has been found 

 in a nest, the probability is that the egg of the foster parent has 

 been removed. I quite agree with Mr. Steele Elliott that individual 

 Cuckoos may remove the only egg from the nest of the dupe previous 

 to depositing their own egg, as there is no limit to the eccentricities 

 of individual Cuckoos ; but there are many instances where this 

 cannot apply, since many of the Cuckoo's eggs have been known to 

 be deposited in nests which have been very far from complete, and in 

 some cases even in deserted nests. In two instances, at least, the 

 nests of Eeed- Warbler and Pied Wagtail or Hedge-Sparrow were in 

 such a condition when the Cuckoo's egg was deposited, that when 

 the nests were complete, the Cuckoo's egg was nearly buried, and 

 Mr. Pattingham even goes so far as to say that in every case he has 

 known, the Cuckoo's egg has been laid in an empty nest. When I 

 was at Hastings Museum a few years ago one of my sons told me 

 he has known in that district of a Cuckoo laying its egg in the 

 empty nest, I think he said, of a Willow- Warbler. Mr. Steele 

 Elliott further states that he knows that the Cuckoo will deposit its 

 egg several days after the foster parents have started incubation ; but 

 what is known of the longest time allowed to elapse before so doing ? 

 Personally, he believes the time is limited. In the ' Naturalist ' for 

 1886, Mr. Whitlock records the finding of a Meadow-Pipit's nest 

 containing two of its own eggs and one of the Cuckoo. The 

 Cuckoo's egg was quite fresh, whilst the Pipit's eggs were within 

 about three days of being hatched. 



In the 'Zoologist,' 1898, p. 130, Mr. Devenport records a Cuckoo 

 laying an egg in a Meadow-Pipit's nest in Arran ; the nest of the 

 dupe contained but one egg, and that in an advanced stage of 

 incubation. Mr. Steele Elliott asks : " how many eggs of the foster 

 parent are usually removed by the Cuckoo, and what actually 

 becomes of them " ? From my own observations I have found that 

 as a rule one egg only has been removed, but again there is no limit 

 to the vagaries of individual Cuckoos, but I believe that only in 

 exceptional instances are more than two eggs removed. In nests 

 where I have found two Cuckoos' eggs, the presumption has always 

 been that two eggs of the rightful owner have been abstracted. 



In the Hastings Naturalists' ' Transactions ' for 1909 a nest of 

 the Pied Wagtail is recorded with four eggs of the rightful owner 

 and one Cuckoo's egg. Two days previously the Wagtail's nest 

 contained six eggs of the rightful owner. With the exception of 

 superior size the Cuckoo's egg exactly matched the Wagtail's. A 

 very great number of instances could be given, if it were necessary, 



