THE CUCKOO'S SECRET
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—My attention has just been-drawn to the interesting paragraphs by Sir William Beach Thomas announcing Mr. Edgar Chance's wager of £100 that he has solved the cuckoo's secret. Before considering 'accepting his wager I should be glad if he would confirm its terms. Does he wager that cuckoos always lay their eggs in the nest, because it is stated on authority that cuckoos' eggs have been found in nests where such a procedure is manifestly impossible ? Though not a field observer myself, I have made a careful study of cuckoo lore by the greatest authorities, including Mr. Chance's fascinating work, The Cuckoo's Secret. According to some of these authorities cuckoos' eggs have been found in nests where they could neither have been laid nor placed by the beak. If each authority, in his own sphere, is reliable, I am naturally forced as a layman to the conclusion that the egg is deposited by some agency other than that of the cuckoo.
Though a letter does not allow me to marshal circumstantial evidence, this evidence is strong enough to make me suspect that the cuckoo's egg is laid by the alleged foster mother. This would imply that the male cuckoo is a promiscuous bird, and that the alleged foster father is, in fact, a cuckold, the cuckoo thus being a hybrid. •
Will you allow me to emphasize that my idea is founded
on evidence put forward by world-famed ornithologists and not on any preconceived opinions of my own? Proof, one way or the other;might be forthcoming next May if Mr. Edgar Chance would renew his remarkable observations armed on this occasion, not with a camera, but with a gun. Should lie be interested in my idea I should be glad to furnish The Spectator with the circumstantial evidence that has aroused in my mind a suspicion so detrimental to the reputation of the female meadow pippit.—I am, Sir, &e.,
BERNARD ACWORTH.
22, De-cereux Court, Essex Street, Strand, W .C.2.
Previous page
