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274 ORIGIN OF SPECIES
their eggs in the nest thus appropriated, or oddly enough build
one for themselves on the top of it. They usually sit on their
own eggs and rear their own young; but Mr. Hudson says it
is probable that they are occasionally parasitic, for he has
seen the young of this species following old birds of a distinct
kind and clamouring to be fed by them. The parasitic habits
of another species of Molothrus, the M. bonariensis, are much
more highly developed than those of the last, but are still far
from perfect. This bird, as far as it is known, invariably
lays its eggs in the nests of strangers; but it is remarkable
that several together sometimes commence to build an irregu-
lar untidy nest of their own, placed in singularly ill-adapted
situations, as on the leaves of a large thistle. They never,
however, as far as Mr. Hudson has ascertained, complete a
nest for themselves. They often lay so many eggs—from
fifteen to twenty—in the same foster-nest, that few or none
can possibly be hatched. They have, moreover, the extraordi-
nary habit of pecking holes in the eggs, whether of their own
species or of their foster-parents, which they find in the ap-
propriated nests. They drop also many eggs on the bare
ground,which are thus wasted. A third species, the M. pecoris
of North America, has acquired instincts as perfect as those
of the cuckoo, for it never lays more than one egg in a foster-
nest, so that the young bird is securely reared. Mr. Hudson is
a strong disbeliever in evolution, but he appears to have been
so much struck by the imperfect instincts of the Molothrus
bonariensis that he quotes my words, and asks, "Must we con-
sider these habits, not as especially endowed or created in-
stincts, but as small consequences of one general law, namely,
transition?"
"Various birds, as has already been remarked, occasionally
lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. This habit is not
very uncommon with the Gallinaceae, and throws some light
on the singular instinct of the ostrich. In this family several
hen-birds unite and lay first a few eggs in one nest and then
in another
; and these are hatched by the males. This instinct
may probably be accounted for by the fact of the hens laying
a large number of eggs, but, as with the cuckoo, at intervals
of two or three days. The instinct, however, of the American
ostrich, as in the case of the Molothrus bonariensis, has not (
back to the
book The Origin of Species"
The Origin of Species
- Title
- The Origin of Species
- Author
- Charles Darwin
- Publisher
- P. F. Collier & Son
- Location
- New York
- Date
- 1909
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 10.5 x 16.4 cm
- Pages
- 568
- Keywords
- Evolutionstheorie, Evolution, Theory of Evolution, Naturwissenschaft, Natural Sciences
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Biologie
Table of contents
- EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 5
- AN HISTORICAL SKETCH of the Progress of Opinion on the Origin of Species 9
- INTRODUCTION 21
- Variation under Domestication 25
- Variation under Nature 58
- Struggle for Existence 76
- Natural Selection; or the Survival of the Fittest 93
- Laws of Variation 145
- Difficulties of the Theory 178
- Miscellaneous Objections to the Theory of Natural Selection 219
- Instinct 262
- Hybridism 298
- On the Imperfection of the Geological Record 333
- On the Geological Succession of Organic Beinss 364
- Geographical Distribution 395
- Geographical Distribution - continued 427
- Mutual Affinities of Organic Beings: Morphology: Embryology: Rudimentary Organs 450
- Recapitulation and Conclusion 499
- GLOSSARY 531
- INDEX 541