THIRD SEASON (1920): RECORD 55 
May 24. The Pipits’ nests would then have 
normally been in the following conditions : — No. 1 
nest, 2 eggs ; No. 2 nest, 4 eggs incubated ; No. 7 
nest, 5 eggs, incubated three days ; No. 8 nest, 
5 eggs incubated since the previous day. 
Calling first at No. 1 nest we found the Cuckoo’s 
sixth egg with one egg of the fosterer, the other 
having been, according to the Cuckoo’s custom, 
removed in exchange for her own egg. We re- 
moved the two eggs and gave the fosterer two others 
to which to lay the remainder of her clutch. The 
nests of pairs Nos. 2, 7, and 8 we left in case the 
Cuckoo might need them for her next egg. 
Thus far we rightly concluded that the Cuckoo 
was laying on alternate days, but we still imagined 
it to be in the early morning instead of in the 
previous afternoon. 
On the morning of the 25th we removed the 
eggs of No. 7 pair, now four days incubated, thus 
starting them on the process of rebuilding. We 
left Nos. 2 and 8, though they were getting less and 
less likely to be used by the Cuckoo. 
Having four days previously seen No. 3 pair 
carrying nesting material, we searched until Owen 
found the nest, which contained two fresh eggs. 
Knowing this to be the only Meadow Pipit’s nest 
