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It has been objected
→by some authors
that I have not noticed other related instincts and
→points of structure
in the cuckoo, which are
spoken of as necessarily co-ordinated. But in all cases, speculation on
instinct
→or character known in only
a single species, is useless, for we have
→no
facts to guide us. Until
recently the instincts of the European and of the non-parasitic American cuckoo alone were known; now, owing to Mr.
observations, we
something about three Australian species, which lay their eggs in other
nests. The chief points
→referred to
are three:
that the
with rare exceptions, lays only one egg in a nest, so that the large and voracious young
ample food. Secondly, that the
remarkably
→that it does
not
of the skylark,—a
→a bird not more than one-fourth of the size of
the
→this
is a real case of adaptation we may infer from the fact of the non-parasitic American cuckoo laying
→eggs of full size proportionally with her body.
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.
has been boldly
→maintained, is beneficently designed,
in order that the young cuckoo may get sufficient food, and that its foster-brothers may
→as it is supposed, they have
acquired much
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