83 
our possession, it was evident that they 
had no such power, but that the disposition 
of their toes gives them a very powerful 
grasp. 
Various opinions are given by authors 
in order to account for their not hatching 
their young, &c, some have assigned as a 
reason, the natural coldness of the Cuc- 
kows body, others, the anatomical forma- 
tion of the thorax. There certainly is no 
reason to be assigned from the formation 
of this bird, why, in common with others, 
it should not build a nest, incubate its 
eggs, and rear its own young, for it is 
apparently in every respect perfectly 
formed for all these offices. But it is a 
well authenticated fact that it * generally 
* We use the term generally because there are a few 
instances recorded which are exceptions. "The Rev. Mr. 
Stafford one day walking: in Blossop dale in Derbyshire, saw 
a Cuckow rise from its nest, which was on the stump of a 
tree that had been some time felled, so as to resemble the 
colour of the bird. In this nest were two young Cuckows, 
one of which he fastened to the ground by means of a peg and 
line, and very frequently, for many days beheld the old 
Cuckow feed these her young ones." The same author (the 
Honourable Dairies Barrington) gives an account of two other 
instances of Cuckows* nests, in which the proper parents fed 
their young. 
