The Cuck oos : The Shining Cuckoo 
169 
Professor Newton pointed out the exceeding difficulty of 
identifying the eggs of different species, and vowed that, for 
his part, he would not be prepared to pronounce on the identity 
of any egg which he had not seen laid. The force of this objec¬ 
tion may be realized on turning to plate 25 of the present 
[beebohm’s] volume, where six eggs of the common guillemot 
are given as representing the typical varieties. The difference 
between them is surprising: the ground colour varies from 
white to buff, fawn colour, pale brown, pale blue, and full blue, 
v liile the markings are of every shape on different eggs, from 
scattered blotches to delicate reticulation, and range from 
lusset brown to jet black.” There is also great variation 
in the coloration of the eggs of the shrike (OC, p. 181). 
I had made a number of notes on the contradictory state¬ 
ments regarding the cuckoo and her habits, but these are no 
longer necessary since the publication in 1922 of that romantic 
book, The Cuckoo’s Secret,” by Edgar Chance. The results 
of his four years of observation have caused us to remodel our 
ideas about the cuckoo altogether. Apparently she is a most 
methodical bird, each one having her definite laying area. 
The area particularly observed was about a quarter of a mile 
across, and nine meadow-pipits built there, each in its own 
circumscribed area. The cuckoo whose ground this was took 
observations of all the pipit nests, knew when each one would be 
ready for her egg, and apparently made a mental note that on 
such and such a day such and such a nest would be ready, 
another on a later day, and so on through the season. Her 
usual number of eggs is from six to twelve in a season, but by 
manipulating the nests Mr. Chance was able to induce her to 
lay twenty-one in one season. One of my boy friends tried the 
same experiment on a sparrow, and it laid thirty; he tried it 
on a thrush, and she sulked for the rest of the season. 
The cuckoo chooses the nests of a particular bird; one may 
choose a hedge-sparrow,—this one chose the pipit. The eggs 
of any particular female are all alike, though those of different 
females differ sufficiently to be separated. They choose the same 
ground, the same foster-birds season after season; and if the 
