COMMON CUCKOW. 



73 



some of her own offspring from the shell, her 

 own young ones, and such of her eggs that remain 

 unhatched, are soon turned out, the young 

 Cuckow remaining possessor of the nest, and sole 

 object of her future care. The young birds are 

 not previously killed, nor are the eggs demolished, 

 but all are left to perish together, either entan- 

 gled about the bush which contains the nest, or 

 lying on the ground under it." 



" The early fate of the young Hedge-sparrows 

 is a circumstance that has been noticed by others, 

 but attributed to wrong causes. A variety of 

 conjectures have been formed upon it. Some 

 have supposed the parent Cuckow the author of 

 their destruction ; while others, as erroneously, 

 have pronounced them smothered by the dispro- 

 portionate size of their fellow-nestling. Now the 

 Cuckow' s egg being not much larger than the 

 Hedge-sparrow's, it necessarily follows, that at first 

 there can be no great difference in the size of the 

 birds just burst from the shell. Of the fallacy of 

 the former assertion also I was some years ago 

 convinced, by having found that many Cuckows 

 eggs were hatched in the nest of other birds after 

 the old Cuckows had disappeared ; and by seeing 

 the same fate then attend the nestling sparrows as 

 during the appearance of old Cuckows in this 

 country." But before he enters on the facts re- 

 lating to the death of the young Sparrows, our 

 author proceeds to state various examples of the 

 incubation of the egg, and the rearing of the 

 young Cuckow ; a point which had been con- 



