June 8—Of all the puzzles of the early summer the oldest and the most fascinating one is....how, when and where do those squalling, whinnying Indian Cuckoos lay their eggs? 1 have been told the most fantastic stories by all kinds of observers; I have read all kinds of literature and watched birds for thirty years, but have never been able to get quite io the bottom of the' problem. Let me survey the established facts: first, I know that these Cuckoos lay their eggs mainly in the nests of Azure-winged Magpies—I have seen the young Cuckoo being fed by those birds, and have actually seen one perched on the edge of the nest: second, I know that they, at least, try to deposit their eggs in the nests of other smaller birds—only yesterday a lady rang up to state that she had seen a Cuckoo trying to enter the nest of a Shrike and being repelled third, I have seen a young Cuckoo being driven out of a wood by Bulbuls, and subsequently feeding itself on caterpillars from cabbages. Beyond that I know nothing....and I think I can state definitely that neither I nor anybody else in China can produce an authenticated Cuckoo's egg to prove or disprove any particular theory. Now I have high hopes of being able to prove that other dupes of the Cuckoo may possibly be the Night Herons. I recently spotted a tree which has been resorted to daily by both the male and female Cuckoo: the male always came first and called loudly, "One-more-bottle" when he was quickly joined by the female who replied with the usual "whinny": I finally managed to.spot the nest
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.