Natural History of the Cuckoo, 299 



" taken by a hawk some time when the old one was seeking food. I 

 " never found her off her nest but once, and that was the last time I saw 

 " the remaining young one, when it was almost full feathered. I then 

 " went from home for two or three days, and when I returned the young 

 " one was gone, which I take for granted had flown. Though during 

 " this time I frequently saw Cuckoos in the thicket I mention, I never 

 " observed any one that I supposed to be the cock bird paired with this 

 " hen." 



This case, so circumstantially detailed, and attested by witnesses of 

 such high respectability, certainly has an imposing appearance ; but a 

 glance at the particulars intended to establish its accuracy is sufficient to 

 convince every ornithologist who is familiar with the economy of the 

 Cuckoo, that the nest discovered by Mr. Wilmot's labourer did not be- 

 long to a bird of that species ; indeed, from its situation and contents 

 -there can scarcely be a doubt that it was a Goatsucker's. We are in- 

 formed by Mr. Wilmot, that in the beginning of July this nest contained 

 three eggs, two of which were hatched several days after his attention 

 was first directed to them ; and that the parental duties of the mother to- 

 wards her offspring were duly exercised till her last remaining nestling, 

 one having been removed by some unknovm cause, was nearly full fea- 

 thered, which could not have been less than eighteen or twenty days from 

 its extrication from the egg. These, it will appear, are important facts, 

 for, as old Cuckoos quit this kingdom early in July,* they plainly shew 

 that Mr. Wilmot's observations, and those of his friends, must have been 

 made under the delusive iufluence of false impressions; and this opinion 

 is confirmed by the peaceable manner in which the young birds occupied 

 the nest while they continued together. Perhaps it may be imagined by 

 those to whom the arguments already advanced do not appear conclusive, 

 that the maternal affection of the parent bird induced her to remain so 

 much beyond the time at which adult Cuckoos usually retire : but this 

 hypothesis will not remove a single difficulty, for Mr. Wilmot expressly 

 states that during this period he frequently saw Cuckoos in an adjoining 

 thicket, though he never observed any one which he supposed to be the 



* Old Cuckoos depart from the neighbourhood of Manchester on the 27th of 

 June, at a mean of fifteen years' observations. 



