Thirdly, that the young cuckoo, soon after birth, has the instinct, the strength and a properly shaped back for ejecting its foster- brothers, which then perish from cold and hunger.

This has been boldly called a beneficent arrangement, in order that the young cuckoo may get sufficient food, and that its foster-brothers may perish before they had acquired much feeling! Turning now to the Australian species: though these birds generally lay only one egg in a nest, it is not rare to find two and even three eggs in the same nest.

In the bronze cuckoo the eggs vary greatly in size, from eight to ten lines in length.