Four eggs in a Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) nest were incubated for one day by a female Yellowhammer but subsequently abandoned. The day following abandonment, the nest and the clutch were adopted by a female Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) who incubated the eggs until a single Yellowhammer nestling hatched; two eggs were depredated, and the embryo in the third egg was dead but well-developed. The young Yellowhammer was fed for 6 days until it was taken by a predator. Because there were no obvious benefits for the adopting female Blackcap, we speculate that the adoption resulted from misdirected parental behavior.