218 
NATURE NOTES 
admit a pair of water- wagtails, a pair had built their nest, in which a cuckoo 
managed to deposit an egg, which in due time hatched : the nest was watched, 
and surprise was evinced at the unremitting care of the birds, extending, too, 
over the time when, in the ordinary course of events, young wagtails would have 
flown. Then a closer examination was made, and great surprise was occasioned 
by finding a large brown bird apparently ready to fly, but a prisoner. Suspecting 
at once what the bird was, my friend offered to give it me. I persuaded him to 
open the entrance and let it fly, which he did, and for many days it was most 
amusing to see this great booby on the top rail of a gate receiving the careful 
attention of the two foster birds. 
It is surprising with what facility a young cuckoo will shoulder out any 
impediment he feels in the nest, and the restlessness the youngster evinces until 
this is accomplished. 
I once found a hedge sparrow’s nest with a cuckoo’s egg in it. In due time 
this egg was hatched, as well as three of the sparrow’s. At an early age this 
shouldering propensity in the young cuckoo was manifested, taking, as it would, 
the lion’s share of the food. It soon managed to throw the weaker fledglings 
overboard. I found one of them on the ground still alive, which I replaced, and 
it was surprising with what freedom the process of ejectment was accomplished. 
Small potatoes and pebbles were in like measure got rid of in the same matter- 
of-fact way. 
There is a cottager living near here who is very fond of pets, who has suc- 
ceeded in keeping two cuckoos for over two years, in a partly darkened cage, 
feeding them on mealworms, chopped meat, and the larvae of the blow fly, which 
in October she bottles and keeps under ground. The male bird would give his 
well-known note in the spring, but both birds are very shy and show no signs of 
being tamed. They are, however, in excellent plumage. I have tried to persuade 
her to liberate them, but she would not do so. 
Jas. Partridge. 
A Duck with Unwebbed Feet. — In Scotland this month I was very- 
interested in a young duckling that had feet just like a chicken. It could swim 
just as well and walk much faster than the others. The father and mother were 
just ordinary birds. The curious bird belongs to a keeper near Castle Douglas in 
Kirkcudbrightshire. D. Secretan. 
Winter Migrants Redwings. — These have made their appearance 
earlier than ever I have recorded them. Several were seen and heard on the 
2nd inst., on a gloriously fine, summer-like day, when larks, thrushes, chiff-chaffs 
and others were singing like spring, so that our weather in England could 
not have been the means of attraction in comparison to that of frost and snow 
when we see and hear them usually. 
J. Hiam. 
[October 22 is the date for their return given in Dr. Roberts’ Naturalists' 
Diary . — Ed. N.N.~\ 
Partridge Carrying Young (vol. v., p. 177 ; vol.vii., p. 157).— I should 
like to mention an observation made to day in corroboration of what I have said 
about young birds holding on by their beaks. My cat had caught a young sparrow 
and was playing with it on the lawn, as is customary with the feline tribe before 
devouring their prey. I noticed that during this the bird laid hold by its beak to 
the fur under the cat’s chin, so that the cat rolled over several times without the 
bird being dislodged, and at last the cat had to tear the bird off with its paws. 
Tuckton , Christchurch , Hants. (1ii.es A. Daubeny. 
Waspa. — I see that Mr. J. Iliam advocates a wholesale crusade against 
wasps. They certainly have been numerous this year ; but is he quite sure that 
they are an unmitigated nuisance? As an old entomologist I am not; for I 
believe that if Ihey were to become a rarity we should soon find out their absence 
by a double dose of caterpillar and grub. The amount of insect food consumed 
by wasps is enormous, and they principally live on this before the fruit season 
comeson. How often have I seen them devour caterpillars and flies ? I have 
known grocers say they welcome wasps in their shops, as they devour so many of 
the flies that eat their sugar. There has been an unusual amount of insect pesfs 
