X 
CONTENTS 
CHAPTER 
IX. 
X. 
XL 
XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 
XV. 
XVI. 
XVII. 
rAGE 
Observations on another Common (1921) . . . 152 
Second common three miles away — “ Mary Pickford ” and four 
other Cuckoos — Various incidents. 
Some Notes on other Cuckoos (1921) . . . 168 
Three observers in different districts— G. J. Scholey’s Reed 
Warbler Cuckoo and her nineteen eggs — A. E. Lees’ Reed 
and Sedge Warbler Cuckoos— E. E. Pettitt’s Reed Warbler 
Cuckoo and her eleven eggs. 
Conditions governing the Laying of Cuckoos’ Eggs 
in General 176 
Number of eggs laid depends on number of available nests — 
Stimulus to reproduction — Interval between layings— Deser- 
tion of usual fosterers. 
Theory of Dominating Cuckoos . . . .185 
Territorial claims — Cuckoo “wanderers ” — Dominant Cuckoos 
and their fosterers. 
Fosterers of the Cuckoo 193 
Regular and accidental dupes of the Cuckoo — Problem of the 
Cuckoo’s method of laying in inaccessible nests — Miss Hilda 
Terras’ Cuckoo — Reed Warbler Cuckoos. 
Removal of Eggs from Fosterers’ Nests . . . 204 
Habit of egg-removal— C. F. M. Swynnerton’s South African 
observations — Removal of eggs by fosterer. 
The Young Cuckoo 210 
Period of incubation — Young Cuckoo’s voracity— Ejection 
of nest-mates — Rapid growth of young Cuckoo. 
Sundry Observations 216 
Call Notes of male and female Cuckoos — Feeding habits. 
Theories and Conclusions 222 
Cuckoo problems — Identification of Cuckoo from egg — Pre- 
ference in selection of fosterer — Conditions favourable to 
regularity of laying — Law of Survival — Similarity in eggs — 
Mating — Conclusion. 
. 238 
APPENDIX. Weights of Cuckoo A’s Eggs 
