THE CUCKOO'S SECRET [To the Editor of Tnr. SPECTATOR.] S1R,—I
claim to have won Mr. Chance's first wager, which appeared in The Spectator of February 16th, that " cuckoos always lay their egg in the nest and do not place it there by the agency of the beak." Mr. Chance says in his own book, The Cuckoo's Secret (page 197), " There is no doubt that many cuckoos do not lay in the nests of their dupes, since t heir eggs have been taken from nests in holes to which it would have been impossible for the parasites to have obtained access for the purpose of laying."
By the terms of his new wager. in The Spectator of March 23rd, lie compromises with the " Beaking " School, because if in July the egg were found in the cuckoo, the " Beakers," his original enemies, would rightly claim that Mr. Chance, as a universal "Layer," had not proved his case. By his new bet he. thus'ranges me against the ornitho- logists of the world who may be willing, therefore, to club together and give me. odds of ten to one. Why does Mr. Chance desire to postpone the post-mortem on the cuckoo to the end of July, and what is his Objection to shooting the cuckoo and the female meadow pipit at the time, and in the manner, proposed in my previous letter'? If in May next he and his friends will make the great experi- ment with the gun, and under the same conditions as his observations with a camera, I will accept his wager. I must stipulate, however, that I may •be present in the " hide '! when the fatal shots are fired.
I hope Mr. Meiklejohn and .Mr. Ware will acquit me of discourtesy in postponing my reply to the interesting points which they raised. Mr. Coward's suggestion that the cuckoo is fitted with a telescopic ovipositor is interesting, but it Would seem, in sonic cases, to necessitate an instrument in the nature of a pea-shooter rather than of an ovipositor. Furthermore, it would seem to imply a degree of marksnian—ship which, if it ever fell short of perfection, might be expected toleave a tell-talc story to the right or left of the bull's-eye.
Mr. Ware's point that my theory would involve the influence of the male cuckoo on the distinctive colourings or markings of the egg is a strong point against my, theory which I have often considered. My disposition to reject this sound criticism is mainly based upon Mr. Chance's assertion, repeated in Mr. Ware's own letter, that cuckoos are reared in inaceestible nests.
In support of my deduction from these pronouncements there is, however, considerable circumstantial evidence which I should like, if I may, to lay before Mr. W. J. Wenham who, I suspect, is a Bariister with a mind trained to weigh evidence.
The circumstantial 'evidences are as follows : " 1. The alleged great excess of Males over females—six to one accordihg to Sir 11:11-atwell. I din 'told by experts that this is characteristic of hybrids.
It is unusual for a bird 15 inches from beak to tail to lay an egg one-eighteenth of the size to be expected. a. The great variation in the colour and markings of the eggs and the frequent though not invariable approximation of cuckoo's eggs to the eggs of the alleged foster-mother. 4. The variation in the size of the cuckoo's egg. According to Butler there are 92 authentic "fosterers" among British birds, and according to the late T. A. Coward 120.
5. The alleged.wido range of slight variations in the plumage of the common cuckoo, particularly noticeable, experts say, in very piing birds.
6. Alendel's law of genetics, by which there will always be a incurrence of a true dominant, supports my theory. 7. The ornithological suggestion that the annual incubating and fostering of the cuckoo by the same Species of bird accounts for the strange similarities in the eggs of the cuckoo and the fosterer is not in accordance with experience in any other case of Nature of which 1 am aware.
S. The fascination which the cuckoo is said to exercise over the females of other species suggests that the " mobbing " of cuckoos is amatory.rather than vindictive.
To whatever deduction detached minds may be led by this circumstantial evidence, provided by experts, I am not so foolish as to suppose that a conclusion adverse to Mr. Chance's varying opinions would carry any weight with him. He will, I feel sure, reject Mr. Wenham's humane proposal for a legal verdict before 'execution.—I am, Sir, &c.,
rile cuckoo is becoming a little too much a wandering voice. It has wandered through our correspondence columns for five weeks now, and interesting as the controversy is it must be brought to a head. Last week Mr. Chance offered to wager Captain Acworth £100 to £50 that lie would produce before the end of July a recently living cuckoo with an :Inlaid egg inside her, as proof that reputed cuckoo's eggs are, in fact, laid by female cuckoos. Captain Acworth today accepts the wager, but with a condition. This is to turn an ornithological into a financial question. The issue is simply one of fact, and the transference of cheques between Mr. Chance and Captain Acworth can have no conceivable bearing on it. The Editor of The Spectator will pronounce, to the best of his ability, on any evidence sub- mitted to him, but lie must decline the responsibility of stakeholding.—En. The Spectator.]
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