136 
NATURE NOTES 
Although the nests were destroyed, the robins continue their attempts to nest in 
the strange place to which they have taken a fancy, and quite recently have been 
seen perched on the altar of the church, which is close to the window by which 
they enter. 
One of the most noteworthy cases that has recently reached us is the following : — 
The “gantry” or elevated platform at Shoeburyness, which carries the travelling 
crane used in moving the great guns, has lately been extended. On removing a 
part of the platform in order to carry out the work several nests were found, both 
of sparrows and starlings, the latter with eggs or young birds, to which the parent 
birds persistently returned when driven off. These nests were almost immediately 
over or within a very short distance of the heavy ordnance, including the 8o-ton 
gun, yet the birds appeared to have suffered no serious inconvenience from the 
firing. 
Nesting Twice in the Same Nest. — Few birds resort to the same nest 
twice in the year, and the reason is not far to seek. An old nest is more liable 
to discovery than a new one, from having been longer made ; and a second brood 
in it is exposed to extra danger. It also encourages idleness and carelessness in 
the builders. Against the many objections Nature seems to have provided a 
remedy in the shape of parasites of different kinds. When the brood has 
cjuitted the nest a legacy is generally left behind of fleas, ticks, and even those 
formidable creatures that thrive so well in the metropolis. 'I'hese, ever on the 
prowl, and thirsting for the blood of any suitable animal that ventures near 
their hiding place, act as a hindrance to a second venture. Everything has its 
use, and this, it seems to me, is one of the uses invented by Dame Nature for an 
objectionable class. I have known domestic hens so worried by fleas in a fashion- 
able nest as to be driven to desert their eggs. 
Market Weston, Thetford, June, 1899. Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
Dropped Starlinprs’ Eggs. — In answer to your correspondent, W., I 
think it is probable that the eggs found on the ground would have, on examina- 
tion, proved to be addled, and that the parent birds had themselves removed 
them from the nest. I have myself found the eggs of the common house-sparrow 
lying on the ground in the same way. Young birds that die in the nest seem 
also to be removed by their parents, as I have found several dead nestlings quite 
unable of tbeir own accord to have reached the places in which I observed them. 
My own series (found dead) is as follows : — (i) Nestling, probably meadow pipit, 
wing quills, and dorsal feather-tract well developed, Lytham, Lancashire, 
May 4, 1896; (2) Nestling, house-sparrow. Sale, 1898; (3) Nestling, house- 
sparrow, naked, Sale, May 22, 1899, and others. 
Sale Bridge House, Sale, Manchester. Graham Renshaw. 
The Cuckoo “Myth.” — It may interest hlr. Otter and others to know 
that I have found viy bottle containing the eggs and a young green linnet half- 
grown, which the young cuckoo I have before referred to cast out of the nest. 
I preserved them in methylated spirits some six years ago. In the bottle also is 
a young cuckoo, hatched in a green linnet’s nest, which died for the want of 
natural food ; it is even smaller than when hatched, and may be the smallest 
cuckoo in preservation. 
James Hiam. 
It seems to me that your correspondents miss the point of Mr. Joseph 
Collinson’s letter. He does not deny that the young birds are ejected by the 
young cuckoo : his contention is that, though the young ultimately find themselves 
on the wrong side of the nest, the action of the strong fellow in posse.ssion is 
quite unintentional. Jenner’s story is that the act is deliberately planned, the 
young cuckoo being, in his opinion, actually designed by providence with a dent 
in his back so as to be able to accomplish the work in the best form. This and 
the eviction, as described by Jenner, arc the “facts” which I, along with Mr. 
Collinson, Dr. Charles Creighton, Dr. Norman Moore, Dr. Green, and a long 
list of other reliable students of Nature, find it impossible to swallow. 
Durham City, June i), 1899. 
J. F. II. 
