Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/501

 

Popular Ornithological Fallacies.—May I ask on what grounds Mr. R.V. Calvert, in the September issue of 'The Zoologist,' pitched upon Cuckoos, in default of Jackdaws, as the culprits in the matter of the destruction (by sucking the contents) of some eggs belonging to a Hawfinch, whose nest had been built in the fork of a whitethorn bush in Wychwood Forest in the spring of the present year? My experience leads me to believe that Cuckoos are caluminated when they are alleged to be addicted to this propensity. It is, of course, quite possible that Mr. Calvert may be in possession of that exceedingly desirable—if the charge is to be deemed absolutely proven—and affirmative evidence on the point, for which scientific ornithologists have long been waiting; if so, I trust it will be recorded in detail in the pages of 'The Zoologist' without delay. But, failing testimony of this kind, let me warn the rising generation of naturalists not to give a moment's heed to the oft-quoted fallacy, founded purely on suggestive evidence, that Cuckoos suck the eggs of little birds. That Cuckoos have been intercepted with eggs, either their own or those of other species, in their bills is no proof of the charge so frequently—as I have found in my walks abroad—preferred against them. Of the Cuckoo's economy so little is known that a large field is naturally presented for speculation; but it appears to me far more likely that the abstraction of an egg from the nest of an alien species may be prompted by an instinctive desire to mask, as it were, the presence of the Cuckoo's egg left behind in its place. Considering the enormous strides ornithology has made during the nineteenth century, the widespread interest that is taken in its study, and the amount of cheap literature that has appeared in connection therewith, it seems to me little short of incredible that, in addition to the one already referred to, there should still linger in the minds of many such preposterous notions as that Green Woodpeckers carefully remove the chips, hewn from their nesting cavity, to a distance; that small birds will not build in the immediate vicinity of other nests; that young Robins kill the old ones in the autumn; that Nightjars suck the milk of goats; that Swallows do not migrate, but hybernate; that only Nightingales sing at night; that Rooks and Crows are identical; that Cuckoos turn into Sparrowhawks in the winter; that Robins retire to the wilds to breed; that Barn Owls suck the eggs of dovecot Pigeons; that sitting Lapwings (that is, females) decoy intruders from their nests by their devices; that Nightingales yearly revisit the same spot for breeding purposes; that Landrails possess the gift of ventriloquism; that Wrens forsake if you insert a finger in their nest; that Mistle Thrushes never sing after the end of April; that Green Woodpeckers are particularly clamorous on the approach of wet weather; that Gulls never perch on trees; that the reeling note of the Grasshopper Warbler is not that of a bird at all; that Long-tailed Tits' nests have two