s bold as the proverbial lion. I therefore do not
believe that these cuckoos which resemble birds of prey derive any
benefit therefrom.

The hen European cuckoo differs very slightly from the cock. In some
species, as, for example, the famous "brain-fever bird"
(_Hierococcyx varius_), there is no external difference between the
sexes, while in others, such as the Indian koel (_Eudynamis honorata_),
and the violet cuckoo (_Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus_), the sexes are
very dissimilar. I commend these facts to the notice of those who
profess to explain sexual dimorphism (the different appearance of
the sexes) by means of natural or sexual selection. The comfortable
theory that the hens are less showily coloured than the cocks, because
they stand in greater need of protective colouring while sitting on
the nest, cannot be applied to the parasitic cuckoos, for these build
no nests, neither do they incubate their eggs.

In the Himalayas the common cuckoo victimises chiefly pipits, larks,
and chats, but its eggs have been found in the nests of many other
birds, including the magpie-robin, white-cheeked bulbul, spotted
forktail, rufous-backed shrike, and the jungle babbler.

The eggs of _Cuculus canorus_ display considerable variation in
colour. Those who are interested in the subject are referred to Mr.
Stuart Baker's papers on the Oology of the Indian Cuckoos in Volume
XVII of the _Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society_.

It often happens that the eggs laid by the cuckoo are not unlike those
of the birds in the nests of which they are deposited. Hence, some
naturalists assert that the cuckoo, having laid an egg, flies about
with it in her bill until she comes upon a clutch which matches her
egg. Perhaps the best reply to this theory is that such refinement
on the part of the cuckoo is wholly unnecessary. Most birds, when
seized by the mania of incubation, will sit upon anything which even
remotely resembles an egg.

Mr. Stuart Baker writes that he has not found that there is any proof
of the cuckoo trying to match its eggs with those of the intended
foster-mother, or that it selects a foster-mother whose eggs shall
match its own. He adds that not one of his correspondents has advanced
this suggestion, and states that he has little doubt that convenience
of site and propinquity to the cuckoo about to lay its eggs are the
main requisitions.

Almost indistinguishable from the common cuckoo in appearance is the
Hi