230 
X^A TURE XOTES 
673. Sand Martin. — The incident related (p. 212 ) by Mr. Daubeny is 
undoubtedly a case of inherited experience. Birds are notably observant and 
suspicious, and it is to their interest that, when anything to which they are not 
accustomed occurs, they should view it with distrust until reassured. In this 
case, the race of Sand Martins has found by experience that falling sand means 
danger. Those that avoided the danger survived ; the others perished. So the 
instinct to avoid falling sand-banks has been established, because Nature always 
errs on the safe side. 
C. Nicholson. 
674. Cuckoo Eating' Eggs. — While quite agreeing with Mr. Daubeny 
that cuckoos are not birds of prey in the strict sense, and, therefore, probably do 
J!oi tear little birds to pieces preparatorily to devouring them, I am sorry to have 
to upset his comfortable attempt to explain away the theory that they devour eggs. 
This is one of the few “■ antiquated beliefs ” which appear to be supported by 
facts, as he will find if he can see a copy of T/ie Countty Side for June 13 last, 
in which there is, on p. 44, a long and circumstantial account by an eye-witness 
of this habit of the cuckoo. Personally, I see no reason why cuckoos should not 
devour eggs from nests on which they have ulterior designs, because such a pro- 
ceeding would obviously lessen the liability of the cuckoo’s egg to be discovered 
by the foster parent, and it certainly would go far to explain the total disappear- 
ance of eggs from nests under observation from time to time, in which cuckoo’s 
eggs have been found. At the same time it is a mistake to attribute this to any 
intelligent knowledge on the part of the cuckoo : it is merely the outcome of 
natural selection acting on the species through generations. Where this antiquated 
belief vias absurd, however, was in attributing the habit in question to the cuckoo’s 
desire to keep his voice clear ! 
C. Nicholson. 
675. Young Cuckoo Ejecting Eggs From Nest.— In reply to the 
query by G. F. Adams on p. 156, may I supplement Harriet B. Blair’s informa- 
tion by referring him to the number of 7 he Cmaitry Side for June 9, 1906 (vol. iii.), 
where he will find illustrations from photographs showing the young cuckoo in 
the act of ejecting an egg ; and there are similar illustrations in Dr. Japp’s “ Book 
of the Cuckoo.” Intelligence does not enter into the matter at all, the callous 
cuckoo simply obeying the blind promptings of inherited experience. I believe 
it has been known to turn out young birds also. In this case, no doubt, the 
cuckoo’s egg had been deposited in the nest when the eggs of the rightful owners 
were far advanced towards hatching. 
C. Nicholson. 
676. The Butterfly’s Life. — I presume Mr. Yorke’s article (p. 186 ) is 
intended to be descriptive of the life of the Large Cabbage White (Piei is brassiccc), 
and I therefore beg to point out a few inaccuracies, sufficiently serious to be mis- 
leading. The caterpillar of that species is not “covered with bunches of hair 
here and there,” but has a uniform thin pile of short hairs. The chrysalis is not 
brown, but greyish (or yellowish) green, spotted with black. The butterfly uses 
its proboscis very frequently for sipping the nectar of many kinds of flowers, 
cultivated and wild, and it does noc lay its eggs on anything but low-growing 
herbaceous plants, as a rule, such as tropteolums and members of the cabbage 
family. If the Small White {P. rapa) be the species meant, then the same remarks 
apply, excepting that the chrysalis in this case is often brown or brownish-grey. 
If the article be intended to apply to butterflies in general, then the descriptions 
of the several stages are much too specific to suit all, even broadly. 
C. Nicholson. 
677. Moth Sembling. — This habit is probably common to all species of 
night or dusk-flying moths, in a greater or less degree, although generally con- 
sidered characteristic of the Bombyces. I have observed it in grass-moths and 
Geometrcc of various species. In butterflies which are abroad by day, sight is 
the sense primarily called into play to enable the sexes to find each other, but 
scent no doubt assists in identification at close quarters. In moth.', however, 
most of which fly in darkness or at dusk, scent is practically a necessity, since, 
as far as I am aware, there are no moths which make a sound, except the Death’s 
