The Belligerents It is dangerous to take sides, but a
bit of interesting evidence has been sent me by a naturalist who had personal knowledge by his witness and his fidelity in observation : " As reported in the Natural History Journal (of 1880) Mr. William Lean, a very good naturalist, described finding the nest of a titlark with a friend on Moseley Common some years before. It was under a thick furze bush, its lower branches close to the ground, in a slight hollow two or three inches in, accessible only by a very small opening in the dry grass, pretty clearly made by the bird. Having passed on some 200 yards a cuckoo was seen skimming over the bushes and dropping where they had found her nest. In less than five minutes she flew off to the fields near by. Going back they found the fresh laid egg in the nest with the titlark's they had found there just before. The small opening was not disturbed and it seemed inconceivable that more than the cuckoo's head could have got in, or deposited the egg except from her bill."
Such evidence, taken with a mass of similar facts, seems conclusive : some cuckoos deposit the egg with the beak, whatever may be done by others. Whether they regurgitate is another question.
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