THIRD SEASON (1920) : RECORD 65 
call and simultaneously fly back to the parental 
home. 
But nothing of particular moment happened until 
about 2 p.m. when what proved to be the female 
Cuckoo singled herself out and flew across to the 
oak tree (E), which is rather taller than the rest and 
is situated about fifty yards inside the forest line 
on the south-west side of the common. This 
position happened to command a perfect view 
of nest 9 3 , but at that time ignorance of the 
habits of a Cuckoo immediately preceding the 
deposition of an egg was such that I was unable to 
derive much encouragement from her action . 
However, our first thrill occurred at 2.35, when the 
Cuckoo suddenly glided from her look-out tree 
with a most unusual and fascinating flight. Ap- 
parently accompanied by the Pipits she flew down 
to the site of the nest and back again to her tree, 
repeating the performance no less than four times 
in the next ten minutes. On the last occasion she 
apparently settled beside the nest for an instant 
and then flew right away across the forest. I 
visited the nest, found the four eggs untouched, 
and then resumed the watch which was now 
beginning to become wearisome. 
At about 3.15 the Cuckoo returned to the 
F 
