Most Brood parasites lay a single egg in a host nest. Brood parasitic species lay tend to lay more eggs than non-parasitic species, often at the rate of one egg a day or more. there may be some mimicry in the eggs, Hosts there is evidence that if the egg looks different from the hosts egg the host will reject them. surprisingly hosts do not regularly reject the chicks once they are hatched despite the frequently obvious difference between the parasitic chick and the host’s chicks. Parasitic species time when they lay their egg so that the parasitic egg will hatch before the host eggs so they have a head start over the host chicks. After they hatch, several different species of host chicks will beg for food with unusual intensity. Some parasitic species even kill the other chicks to maximize the amount of care that the hosts give it.