THE 



NATURAL HISTORY 



SELBORNE. 



LETTER XXX. 



TO THE 



HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. 



DEAR SIR- Selborne, April 3, 177^. 



Mo NsiEUR HEfiissANT. a Freuch anato- 

 mist, seems persuaded that he has disco- 

 vered the reason why cuckoos do not hatch 

 their own eggs ; the impediment, he sup- 

 poses, arises from the internal structure of 

 their parts, which incapacitates them for 

 incubation. According to this gentleman, 

 the crop, or craw, of a cuckoo does not lie 

 before the sternum at the bottom of the 



VOL. II. 



B 



