374 Mr, J. BlackwalPs (hmithological Notes. 



nishing feats, it will be perceived, were accomplished by the 

 nestling cuckoo when it was only three days old, and, conse- 

 quently, before it had the use of its eyes ; it died soon after, and 

 to me, who witnessed its exploits, it is an object of much interest, 

 being preserved in spirit of wine to the present hour. 



The curious fact, first announced in the ^Memoirs of the Lite- 

 rary and Philosophical Society of Manchester,^ Second Series, 

 vol. iv. pp. 455, 456, that the cuckoo frequently watches birds 

 construct the nests in w^hich it deposits its eggs, is not, it seems, 

 peculiar to that species ; according to Mr. Audubon, a similar 

 instinct is manifested under like circumstances by the cow-pen 

 bird, Icterus pecoris, whose oeconomy resembles that of the 

 cuckoo in other remarkable particulars. (Ornithological Bio- 

 graphy, vol. i. pp. 495, 496.) 



To the recorded instances of young cuckoos having been pre- 

 served alive through the winter, I am enabled, by the kindness of 

 Mrs. Warner of Crumpsall Green, to add another. This lady 

 procured a nestling cuckoo on the 12th of July 1842, and by 

 skilful management and constant attention succeeded in keeping 

 it in excellent health till July 1843, when it died of inflammation 

 caused by the negligence of the servant who had the care of it, 

 Mrs. Warner being absent at the time on a visit to her sister, 

 who resided at a distance. In the second week of August the 

 young bird began to exhibit symptoms of restlessness, which in- 

 creased to such a degree that it was found requisite to keep it in 

 darkness, lest the violent efforts it made to effect an escape from 

 captivity should occasion its destruction. This extreme agitation, 

 which continued, with short intervals of repose, through the day 

 and night, began to subside towards the end of the month, and 

 ceased altogether about the middle of September, having been 

 limited to the night for a short period antecedent to the last date. 

 The act of moulting, which commenced in February, proceeded 

 with extreme slowness and was never completed, though the bird 

 was provided with nourishing food in abundance, and the tem- 

 perature of the room in which it was kept was not suffered to fall 

 below 50° Fahrenheit. 



A person named Thomas Holt brought to Crumpsall Hall on 

 the 1st of July 1826 a young cuckoo which he had taken about 

 an hour before out of the nest of a meadow pipit, and at my re- 

 quest he undertook to keep and treat it according to such in- 

 structions as from time to time I should communicate to him. 

 This nestling, under the prescribed system of management, in- 

 creased rapidly in growth and vigour, and as the principal object 

 I had in view was to ascertain whether it would become torpid 

 or not on the approach of winter, the cage occupied by it was 

 placed in a room without fire. In the ensuing November sharp 



