| Edgar Percival Chance | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1881 Edgbaston, Birmingham, England |
| Died | 1955 |
| Other names | Cuckoo Chance |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Study of the Cuckoo |
Edgar Percival Chance (1881–1955) was a British ornithologist and oologist who amassed a collection of 25,000 birds’ eggs.[1] He is noted for his pioneering studies on the parasitic breeding behaviour of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus).
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Chance was born at Edgbaston, in the city of Birmingham, and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was a wealthy businessman and industrialist who managed the family chemicals and glass-making business, Chance Brothers, based in Oldbury, West Midlands, between the first and second world wars.[2] He was an egg-collector who became fascinated by cuckoos and made intensive studies of the Common Cuckoo, in the course of which he wrote two books about the species as well as producing a film. The film – The Cuckoo's Secret – was shot at Pound Green Common in Worcestershire,[3] showing for the first time that female cuckoos lay their eggs directly into the nests of their hosts, rather than laying them on the ground and placing them in the nests with their bills as was previously widely believed.[4] He also achieved a world record for collecting the most eggs – 25 – from a single female cuckoo in the course of one breeding season (1922).[5]
Chance was a member of the British Ornithologists' Union – from which his egg collecting eventually resulted in his expulsion[6] – and served on the Council of the British Oological Association. He named his daughter Cardamine, alluding to the scientific name of the Cuckoo Flower Cardamine pratensis.[7]
Chance's large egg collection, which includes the eggs of the cuckoo filmed at Pound Green Common, is held at the Natural History Museum at Tring[6].
Among Chance's many articles in the ornithological literature are: