From T. M. Brewer to A. A. Gould1 [March 1858]2
My Dear Dr
In regard to the subject matter of Mr Darwins note to you I have to say that I have never known an instance in which ⟨our⟩ Yellow-billed Cuckoo has been known to drop an egg in the nest of any othe⟨r⟩ bird. I have however seen a nest (—it was exhibited so not found in the field—) of the Chipping Sparrow containing the egg of a Black-billed Cuckoo—but I have always supposed it was deposited there by human ⟨ ⟩3
⟨I know⟩ of few birds more faithful apparently to their own young than both species of our cuckoos.
Very truly yrs | T M Brewer
Dr A. A. Gould
CD annotations
First CD note:
Second CD note:
Footnotes
Bibliography
Agassiz, Louis. 1848–54. Bibliographia zoologiæ et geologiæ: a general catalogue of all books, tracts, and memoirs on zoology and geology. Edited and enlarged by Hugh Edwin Strickland. 4 vols. London: Ray Society.
Audubon, John James. 1831–[9]. Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America accompanied by descriptions of the objects represented in the work entitled ‘The birds of America’ and interspersed with delineations of American scenery and manners. 5 vols. Edinburgh: Adam Black; Adam & Charles Black.
Natural selection: Charles Darwin’s Natural selection: being the second part of his big species book written from 1856 to 1858. Edited by R. C. Stauffer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1975.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Wilson, Alexander. 1808–14. American ornithology: or, The natural history of the birds of the United States. 9 vols. Philadelphia: Bradford and Inskeep.
Yarrell, William. 1845. A history of British birds. 2d edition. 3 vols. London: John Van Voorst.
Summary
Writes regarding CD’s query on yellow-billed cuckoo and the laying of eggs in other birds’ nests.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2421
- From
- Thomas Mayo Brewer
- To
- Augustus Addison Gould
- Sent from
- unstated
- Source of text
- DAR 160: 305, 305/1, 305/2
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp damaged †(by CD), CD notes 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2421,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2421.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7