160 THE CUCKOO’S SECRET 
sight. Smyth came across and found that she had 
laid her egg and taken one of the three eggs of the 
Pipit away with her.” 
Now when, as Hawkins says, the Cuckoo ran 
to the nest and dived her head into it, she was 
evidently picking up the fosterer’s egg as she went 
on to lay. A camera picture taken on another 
occasion by Miss Turner proves that the Cuckoo 
first picked up the egg and held it in her beak 
whilst laying. This was at the laying of “ Mary 
Pickford’s ” fourth egg on May 27. After pre- 
liminary manoeuvres by P. B. Smyth and the Cuckoo 
the latter at 2.17 p.m. made her first glide to a 
Meadow Pipit’s nest with one egg, which was 
wonderfully well concealed in deep heather. 
Smyth placed a dummy nest within two feet of 
this and Miss Turner was installed in a hide in a 
good position for taking photographs. The Cuckoo 
glided again at 2.53 p.m. It was raining heavily 
and bitterly cold, and shortly afterwards the 
Cuckoo disappeared. At 3.30 she appeared behind 
the hide and then flew into her observation tree. 
She glided down at 3.55 and as she approached 
took out an egg from the dummy nest, immediately 
flying off as Miss Turner released the shutter of 
her camera, being evidently frightened by the 
