17. Opera house at London burnt, p. 459. 22. The States General of France prevented from meeting by the foldiery. The prefident pro efts, and repairs to the Tennis Court, where the members fubfcribe an oath to abide by each other, to operate a regeneration of the conftitution, and that where-ever the members convene, there is the National Affembly, p. 295. 23. The King of France repeals feveral obnoxious privileges, p. 300. Great commotions in Paris: The guards refute to obey the King, and declare themselves to be the foldiers of the nation, two of whom are imprisoned, but fet, at liberty by the people, p. 345. 25 Their Majesties set out on a journey to Weymouth and Plymouth, p. 460. July. An army of 30,000 incamped in the neighbourhood of Versailles and Paris under Mahal Broglo, p. 347 10. Spirited addrefs of the National Affembly to the King respecting the troops, p. 348. 11. Mr Necker ditmiffed, p 351. 12. Populace of Paris take arms, and are joined by the guards; a skirmish' ensues, in which two dragoons are killed, p. 351 13. The citizens of Paris refolve to raise 48,000 militia. Attack the convent of Lazare, where they find corn and arms, p. 351. 14 Hospital of Invalids taken. The Baftile attacked and carried: The governor be headed, and the prifoners released, p 351. 17. The King comes from Verfailles to Paris, furrounded with 150,000 men in arms; puts the national cockade in his hat, and falutes the people from the Hotel de Ville, p. 403. 15 Engagement between the Ruffian and Swedish fleets, p. 446. 28. M. Necker returns to Verfailles. The French guards incorporated under the appellation of gardes de la nation, p. 451. Accounts of great disturbances in the provinces of France, p. 449. Aug. 11. An act for allowing the Eaft-India Company to increase their capital receives the royal affent, p. 530 18. Tumults at Liege, which occafion the Bishop to withdraw, p. 448. Sept. 2. Earl Fitzwilliam entertains the Prince of Wales at Wentworth houfe in a most fumptuous ftyle, p. 461. 7. The French National Affembly declare themselves permanent; determine in favour of biennial parliaments, and give the King a fufpending vote, which is limited to two parliaments, p. 603. 21. Great riot at Martinique, the people affume the National cockade, depose the General, and fing Te Deum on account of the French revolution, p. 563. 22. The Ruffians and Auftrians, under the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg and Gen. Suwarrow defeat an army of 90,000 Turks in Wallachia, and kill 7000, p. 503. 01. The Gardes du Corps entertain the regiment de Flandres at Verfailles. On their Majefties visiting them after dinner, Vive le Roi refounded through the hall, they tear off the national cockade; great disturbances enfue, and continue till the 5th, when 5000 women, armed with weapons, and M. de la Fayette with 20,000 militia marched to Versailles. On the morning of the 6th, the Parisians demand entrance at the palace, and the gardes du corps fire on them, and kill feveral of them. The guards however are forced to give way, fome of whom are killed, and their heads stuck upon poles. Their Majesties brought to Paris, and lodged in the Thuilleries, 50,000 militia lining the roads, p. 507.--510. 8. Belgrade taken by the Austrians, p. 503. Infurrections in the Austrian Netherlands: The Brabantefe take two forts, Lillo and Lifenfhoeck, p 558 27. The Emperor's troops defeated by the Brabantine patriots, p. 600. 31. Ilay Campbell, Efq; appointed Lord Prefident of the Court of Seflion, in the room of Sir Thomas Miller, deceased, p. 518. November. Accounts received of the taking of Ghent and Oftend, p. 600. 5. Some shocks of an earthquake felt at Crieff, p. 569. 12. The Bishops and clergy of the Epifcopal church of Scotland meet at Laurencekirk the first time for a century paft, p. 569. 16. The foundation-flone of the new college at Edinburgh laid with great folemnity, Dec. 9. In the King's Bench, Parfloe against Sykes for crim. con. the plaintiff obtains a verdict for 10,000 l. p. 610. 12. Bruffels taken by the patriots, p. 600. 30. Dr Cullen refigus his Profefforfhip of the Practice of Phyfic in the University of Edinburgh; Dr Gregory chofen his fucceffor, and Dr Duncan appointed Professor of the Theory of Phyfic, in room of Dr Gregory, p. 624. THE THE CONTENT S. On the Natural History of the Cuckoo I. Remarkable FROSTS from the Conqueft 8. PARLIAMENT. Report of the committee of Lords appointed to fearch for precedents ordered to be printed 9. Commons on re- port of their committee ib. Debate on the Prince's right: Speeches of Sir G. Cooper ib. Mr Martin 1o. Attorney-General ib. Mr Wyndham ib. Mr Hardinge, Mr An- ftruther 11. Mr Dempster, &c. &c. ib. On appointing the regent: Speeches of Mr Burke 12. Mr Fox 13. Mr Pitt 14. Meff. Powys, Drake, Sheridan ib. Division 15. Conference with the Lords ib. Lords on the refolutions of the Commons ib. Anecdotes of the value of MONEY, &c. 16. Hiftory of the MOWING CABBAGE plant 19. Calculations from the Parish-register of SHEL- New Books. Priestley's lectures on history 25. Tranf. of Lond. Society of Arts, Pro- pagation of Timber 27. Catalogue 29.-33. Account of the voyages undertaken in fearch of FURS fince Capt. Cook's death 34. Memoirs of T. SHERIDAN continued 38. A cafe of SUSPENDED ANIMATION 41. POETRY. Epilogue to the Child of Nature 42. Song by P. Pindar ib. Ode ib. Ma- HISTORICAL AFFAIRS. Turky 44. Po- - England. P. of Wales gives 1000l. to the poor in London 46. Prefent of coals to the P. of Wales ib. Seffions at the Old Bailey ib. State of the navy ib. P. of Wales gives 200l. to the poor ib. Difpute about fettling a minister in Canon- Obfervations on the Natural History of the Cuckoo. By Mr Ed. Jenner. [From the Philofophical Tranfactions, vol. 78. part. 2. 1788.] H E first appearance of cuckoos in Gloucestershire (the part of 17th of April. The fong of the male, which is well known, foon proclaims its arrival. The fong of the female, if the peculiar notes of which it is compofed may be fo called, is widely different, and has been fo little attended to, that I be- lieve few are acquainted with it. I know not how to convey to you a proper idea of it by a comparison with the notes of any other bird; but the cry of the dab- Unlike the generality of birds, cuckoos do not pair. When a female appears on the wing, the is often attended by two or three males, who feem to be earnestly contending for her favours. From the time of her appearance, till after the in'd- dle of fummer, the nefts of the birds fe- lected to receive her egg are to be found in great abundance; but, like the other migrating birds, fhe does not begin to jay till fome weeks after her arrival. I never could procure an egg till after the middle of May, though probably an ear- ly-coming cuckoo may produce one The cuckoo makes choice of the nests of of a great variety of fmall birds. I have known its egg intrufted to the care of the hedge-fparrow, the water-wagtail, the titlark, the yellow-hammer, the green linnet, and the whinchat. Among thefe it generally felects the three former; but fhews a much greater partiality to the hedge-fparrow than to any of the reft: therefore, for the purpose of avoid ing confufion, this bird only, in the fol. lowing account, will be confidered as the fofter-parent of the cuckoo, except in inftances which are particularly specified. The hedge-fparrow commonly takes up four or five days in laying her eggs. During this time, (generally after fhe has laid one or two), the cuckoo contrives to depofit her egg among the reft, leaving the future care of it entirely to the hedgefparrow. This intrufion often occafions fome difcompofure; for the old hedgefparrow at intervals, whilft the is fitting, not unfrequently throws out fome of her own eggs, and sometimes injures them in fuch a way that they become addle; fo that it more frequently happens, that only two or three hedge-fparrow's eggs are hatched with the cuckoo's than otherwise: but whether this be the cafe or not, the fits the fame length of time as if no foreign egg had been introduced, the cuckoo's egg requiring no longer incubation than her own. However, have never feen an inftance where the hedge-fparrow has either thrown out or injured the egg of the cuckoo. When the hedge-sparrow has fat her ufual time, and difengaged the young cuckoo and fome of her own offspring from the fhell, her own young ones, and any of her eggs that remain unbatched, are foon turned out, the young cuckoo remaining poffeffor of the neft, and fole object of her future care. The young birds are not previously killed, nor are the eggs demolished; but all are left to perish together, either entangled about the bush which contains the neft, or lying on the ground under it. The early fate of the young hedgefparrows is a circumftance that has been noticed by others, but attributed to wrong caufes. A variety of conjectures have been formed upon it. Some have fuppofed the parent cuckoo the author of their deftruction; while others, as erroneously, have pronounced them fmothered by the difproportionate fize of their fellow-neftling. Now the cuckoo's egg being not much larger than the hedgefparrow's (as I fhall more fully point out hereafter), it neceffarily follows, that at 1. The titlark is frequently felected by the cuckoo to take charge of its young one; but as it is a bird lefs familiar than many that I have mentioned, its neft is not fo often difcovered. I have, neverthelefs, had feveral cuckoo's eggs brought to me that were found in titlark's nefts; and had one opportunity of feeing the young cuckoo in the neft of this bird: I faw the old birds feed it repeatedly, and, to fatisfy myself that they were really titlarks, hot them both, and found them to be fo. II. A cuckoo laid her egg in a waterwagtail's neft in the thatch of an old cottage. The wagtail fat her usual time, and then hatched all the eggs but one; which, with all the young ones, except the cuckoo, was turned out of the neft. The young birds, confifting of five, were found upon a rafter that projected from under the thatch, and with them was the egg, not in the leaft injured. On examining the egg, I found the young wagtail it contained quite perfect, and just in such a state as birds are when ready to be difengaged from the fhell. The cuckoo was reared by the wagtails till it was nearly capable of flying, when it was killed by an accident. III. A hedge-fparrow built her neft in a hawthorn bush in a timber yard: after fhe had laid two eggs, a cuckoo dropped in a third. The fparrow continued laying, as if nothing had happened, till she bad laid five, her usual number, and then fat. June 22 June 20. 1786. On infpecting the net I found, that the bird had hatched this morning, and that every thing but the young cuckoo was thrown out. Under the aeft I found one of the young hedges fparrows dead, and one egg by the fide of the neft entangled with the coarse woody materials that formed its outfide covering. On examining the egg, I found one end of the fhell a little crack ed, and could fee that the fparrow it contained was yet alive. It was then re ftored to the neft, but in a few minutes was thrown out. The egg being again fufpended by the outfide of the neft, was faved a fecond time from breaking. To fee what would happen if the cuckoo was removed, I took out the cuckoo, and placed the egg containing the hedgefparrow in the neft in its ftead. The old birds, during this time, flew about the fpot, fhewing figns of great anxiety; but when I withdrew, they quickly came to the neft again. On looking into it in a quarter of an hour afterwards, I found the young one completely hatched, warm and lively. The hedge-fparrows were fuffered to remain undisturbed with their new charge for three hours (during which time they paid every attention to it) when the cuckoo was again put into the neft. The old fparrows had been fo much difturbed by these intrusions, that for fome time they fhewed an unwilling nefs to come to it: however, at length they came, and on examining the neft again in a few minutes, I found the young fparrow was tumbled out. It was a second time restored, but again experienced the same fate. From these experiments, and fuppo fing, from the feeble appearance of the young cuckoo juft difengaged from the fhell, that it was utterly incapable of difplacing either the egg or the young fparrows, I was induced to believe, that the old fparrows were the only agents in this feeming unnatural bufinefs; but I afterwards clearly perceived the cause of this strange phænomenon, by discovering the young cuckoo in the act of displacing its fellow-neftlings, as the following relation will fully evince. June 18. 1787, I examined the neft of a hedge-fparrow, which then contained a cuckoo's, and three hedge-fparrow'seggs. On infpecting it the day following, I found the bird had hatched, but that the neft now contained only a young cuckoo and one young hedge-fparrow, The peft was placed fo near the extremity of a hedge, that I could diftinctly see what was going forward in it; and, to my aftonishment, faw the young cuckoo, though fo newly hatched, in the act of turning out the young hedge-fparrow. The mode of accomplishing this was very curious. The little animal, with the affiftance of its rump and wings, con❤ trived to get the bird upon its back, and making a lodgement for the burden by elevating its elbows, clambered backward with it up the fide of the neft till it reached the top, where refting for a moment, it threw off its load with a jerk, and quite difengaged it from the neft. It remained in this fituation a fhort time, feeling about with the extremities of its wings, as if to be convinced whether the bufinefs was properly executed, and them dropped into the neft again. With the extremities of its wings I have often seen it examine, as it were, an egg and neftling before it began its operations; and the nice fenfibility which thefe parts appeared to poffefs feemed fufficiently to compenfate the want of fight, which as yet it was deftitute of. I afterwards put in an egg, and this, by a fimilar process, was conveyed to the edge of the neft, and thrown out. Thefe experiments I have fince repeated feveral times in different nefts, and have always found the young cuckoo disposed to act in the fame manner. In climbing up the neft, it fometimes drops its burden, and thus is foiled in its endeavours; but, after a little refpite, the work is refumed, and goes on almoft inceffantly till it is effected. It is wonderful to fee the extraordinary exertions of the young cuckoo, when it is two or three days old, if a bird be put into the neft with it that is too weighty for it to lift out. In this state it seems ever reftless and uneasy. But this difpofition for turning out its companions begins to decline from the time it is two or three till it is about twelve days old, when, as far as I have hitherto feen, it ceafes. Indeed, the difpofition for throwing out the egg appears to cease a few days fooner; for I have frequently feen the young cuckoo, after it had been hatched nine or ten days, remove a neftling that had been placed in the neft with it, when it fuffered an egg, put there at the fame time, to remain unmolested. The fingularity of its shape is well adapted to thefe purposes; for, different from other newly-hatched birds, its back from A 2 the the fcapula downwards is very broad, with a confiderable depreffion in the middle. This depreffion feems formed by nature for the design of giving a more fe cure lodgement to the egg of the hedgefparrow, or its young one, when the young cuckoo is employed in removing either of them from the neft. When it is about twelve days old, this cavity is quite filled up, and then the back af. fumes the fhape of neftling birds in general. Having found that the old hedge-fparrow commonly throws out fome of her own eggs after her neft has received the cuckoo's, and not knowing how the might treat her young ones, if the young cuckoo was deprived of the power of difpoffeffing them of the neft, I made the following experiment. July 9. A young cuckoo, that had been hatched by a hedge-fparrow about four hours, was confined in the neft in fuch a manner that it could not poffibly turn out the young hedge-fparrows which were hatched at the fame time, though it was almoft inceffantly making attempts to effect it. The confequence was, the old birds fed the whole alike, and appeared in every refpect to pay the fame attention to their own young as to the young cuckoo, until the 13th, when the neft was unfortunately plundered. The fmallnefs of the cuckoo's egg in proportion to the fize of the bird is a circumftance that hitherto, I believe, has efcaped the notice of the ornithologift. So great is the difproportion, that it is in general fmaller than that of the houfefparrow; whereas the difference in the ize of the birds is nearly as five to one. I have ufed the term in general, becaufe eggs produced at different times by the fame bird vary very much in fize. I have found a cuckoo's egg fo light that it weighed only 43 grains, and one fo heavy that it weighed 55 grains. The colour of the cuckoo's eggs is extremely variable. Some, both in ground and perciling, very much refemble the houfe fparrow's; fome are indiftin&ly covered with bran-coloured fpots; and others are marked with lines of black, refembling, in fome measure, the eggs of the yellowhammer. The circumflance of the young cuckoo's being defined by nature to throw out the young hedge-fparrows, feems to account for the parent-cuckoo's dropping her egg in the neft of birds fo fmall as thofe I have particularifed. If he were to do this in the neft of a bird which produced a large egg, and confequently a large neftling, the young cuckoo would probably find an insurmountable difficul. ty in folely possessing the neft, as its exertions would be unequal to the labour of turning out the young birds. Besides, though many of the larger birds might have fed the neftling cuckoo very properly, had it been committed to their charge, yet they could not have suffered their own young to have been facrificed, for the accommodation of the cuckoo, in fuch great number as the fmaller ones, which are so much more abundant; for though it would be a vain attempt to calculate the numbers of neftlings deftroyed by means of the cuckoo, yet the flighteft obfervation would be fufficient to convince us that they must be very large. Here it may be remarked, that though nature permits the young cuckoo to make this great waste, yet the animals thus deftroyed are not thrown away or rendered useless. At the feafon when this happens, great numbers of tender quadrupeds and reptiles are feeking provifion; and if they find the callow neftlings which have fallen victims to the young cuckoo, they are furnished with food well adapted to their peculiar ftate. It appears a little extraordinary, that two cuckoo's eggs fhould ever be depo fited in the fame neft, as the young one produced from one of them must inevitably perish; yet I have known two inftances of this kind, one of which I shall relate. June 17. 1787. Two cuckoos and a hedge fparrow were hatched in the fame neft this morning; one hedge-fparrow's egg remained unhatched. In a few hours atter, a conteft began between the cuckoos for the poffeffion of the neft, which continued undetermined till the next afternoon; when one of them, which was fomewhat fuperior in fize, turned out the other, together with the young hedgefparrow and the nuhatched egg. This conteft was very remarkable. The combatants alternately appeared to have the advantage, as each carried the other feveral times nearly to the top of the neft, and then funk down again, oppreffed by the weight of its burden; till at length, after various efforts, the strongest prevailed, and was afterwards brought up by the hedge-fparrows. I come now to confider the principal. matter that has agitated the mind of the naturalift |