Seite - 271 - in The Origin of Species
Bild der Seite - 271 -
Text der Seite - 271 -
INSTINCTS OF THE CUCKOO 271
jay (Garrulus cristatus) ; and as both were nearly full feath-
ered, there could be no mistake in their identification. I could
also give several instances of various birds which have been
known occasionally to lay their eggs in other birds' nests.
Now let us suppose that the ancient progenitor of our Euro-
pean cuckoo had the habits of the American cuckoo, and that
she occasionally laid an egg in another bird's nest. If the
old bird profited by this occasional habitthrough beingenabled
to migrate earlier or through any other cause; or if theyoung
were made more vigorous by advantage being taken of the
mistaken instinct of another species than when reared by their
own mother, encumbered as she could hardly fail to be by
having eggs and young of different ages at the same time J
then the old birds or the fostered young would gain an ad-
vantage. And analogy would lead us to believe, that the
young thus reared would be apt to follow by inheritance the
occasional and aberrant habit of their mother, and in their
turn would be apt to lay their eggs in other birds' nests, and
thus be more successful in rearing their young. By a con-
tinued process of this nature, I believe that the strange in-
stinct of our cuckoo has been generated. It has, also, re-
cently been ascertained on sufficient evidence, by Adolf
Miiller, that the cuckoo occasionally lays her eggs on the bare
ground, sits on them, and feeds her young. This rare event is
probably a case of reversion to the long-lost, aboriginal in-
stinct of nidification.
It has been objected that I have not noticed other related
instincts and adaptations of structure in the cuckoo, which
are spoken of as necessarily co-ordinated. But in all cases,
speculation on an instinctknown to us only in a single species,
is useless, for we have hitherto had 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. Ramsay's observations, we have learnt something about
three Australian species, which lay their eggs in other birds'
nests. The chief points to be referred to are three: first, that
the common cuckoo, with rare exceptions, lays only one egg
in a nest, so that the large and voracious young bird receives
ample food. Secondly, that the eggs are remarkably small,
not exceeding those of the skylark,—a bird about one-fourth
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Buch The Origin of Species"
The Origin of Species
- Titel
- The Origin of Species
- Autor
- Charles Darwin
- Verlag
- P. F. Collier & Son
- Ort
- New York
- Datum
- 1909
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 10.5 x 16.4 cm
- Seiten
- 568
- Schlagwörter
- Evolutionstheorie, Evolution, Theory of Evolution, Naturwissenschaft, Natural Sciences
- Kategorien
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Biologie
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- 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