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Nature 393, 213-215 (21 May 1998) | doi:10.1038/30354

Behavioural ecology:  Cuckoos beg the answer

Rory Howlett1

Bawling babies are the bane of many long-suffering parents. But consider the lot of a pair of birds that spends weeks building a nest, and preparing to raise a brood of their own, only to be hoodwinked into caring instead for a gluttonous interloper.