. Our common cuckoo and other cuckoos and parasitical birds; an attempt to reach a true theory of them by comparative study of habit and function .. . rk ! On the other hand, we have the following para-graph : The Tables Turned. An Epsom contributor to Nature Notes writes,September, 1898 :— I believe that when a cuckoodeposits her eggs in another birds nest, the intruder,as soon as it is big enough, ousts the rightful nest-lings. But early in June an instance to the contraryoccurred in my garden. 1 was sitting under a tree,on the trunk of which 1 knew there was a sparrowsnest and young birds,
. Our common cuckoo and other cuckoos and parasitical birds; an attempt to reach a true theory of them by comparative study of habit and function .. . rk ! On the other hand, we have the following para-graph : The Tables Turned. An Epsom contributor to Nature Notes writes,September, 1898 :— I believe that when a cuckoodeposits her eggs in another birds nest, the intruder,as soon as it is big enough, ousts the rightful nest-lings. But early in June an instance to the contraryoccurred in my garden. 1 was sitting under a tree,on the trunk of which 1 knew there was a sparrowsnest and young birds, as I had watched the old birdsgoing to and fro. There was a sudden clamour anddisturbance, and a young cuckoo was jerked out of thenest, and fell, with rather a heavy thud, close to myfeet. There had been violent measures before theexpulsion, for there was blood upon its beak, andafter a few gasps—showing its bright orange mouthand throat—it died in my hand. The nest was toohigh—it was eight or ten feet from the ground—forme to look into it, but it would be interesting to haveknown how many sparrow beaks it took to serve Jenners Report. 45 Or whether another cuckoo chanced to be in thatnest—a thing which, if ascertained, would have beenimportant. Mr. Howard Saunders positively asserts that thesame female sometimes deposits two and even threeeggs in one nest; and that where there are twocuckoos in the same nest the struggle for existence issometimes severe.* Jenners report is absolutely in favour of the theorythat the young cuckoos act towards each other pre-cisely as they do towards the true occupants of thenest. I do not, however, implicitly pin my faith toJenner, and wish—devoutly wish—for well verifiedobservations of others on this point to enable me andothers finally to accept or to reject what is impHed inthe following passage : Two cuckoos and one hedge-sparrow were hatchedin the same nest; one hedge-sparrows egg remainedunhatched. In a few
Size: 1371px × 1823px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidcu319240, booksubjectbirds
