284? Cuckoo hatched by the Robin, 



condition of the grass of the lawn for the detection and cap- 

 ture of the various insects on which they feed. The cuckoo, 

 although strong enough to fly without difficulty, would not assist 

 itself by picking in the slightest degree ; but would wait, with 

 open mouth, till the wagtail flew with the eagerly expected 

 morsel, which it greedily devoured. The avidity shown by 

 this little animal in attending to the wants of this usurper 

 of its nest was truly astonishing, and delighted all who ob- 

 served it from the windows. It ran about rapidly in quest of 

 food, searched zealously and successfully ; for it was seldom 

 long before it returned with something for its companion, with 

 the feeding of which it seemed never weary. The disparity 

 in the size of these two birds rendered this display of maternal 

 affection rather ludicrous ; but I think that it will be agreed 

 that it was a beautiful and interesting sight ; and perhaps more 

 curious from its having taken place so close to a dwelling. — 

 William Fowler. 49. Poland Street, March 25. 1834. 



The Cuckoo hatched and nurtured by the Robin. — In the 

 summer of 1 829, I was sent for by Mr. Fisher, proprietor of an 

 extensive orchard atCloudsburn, near Hamilton, Lanarkshire, 

 to see what he conceived to be a young cuckoo in a redbreast's 

 nest. The nest was in an old wall, or sunk fence, by a little 

 rivulet, not more than fifty yards from Mr. Fisher's dwelling- 

 house ; and was secured and concealed, in the usual sly way 

 practised by redbreasts, with leaves and dry grass, very much 

 resembling in colour the brown wall in which it was built. 

 It contained only one bird ; which, from its large dimensions 

 in proportion to the nest, and other characteristic features, I 

 at once concluded to be a young cuckoo. Mr. Fisher assured 

 me that he had observed the nest from its commencement, 

 but that he had never seen the old cuckoo about it ; nor 

 could he understand how a bird so large contrived to get its 

 egg deposited, the crevice of the wall in which the redbreast 

 had built being barely sufficient to admit the redbreast itself. 

 The observation of Mr. Fisher struck me forcibly on observ- 

 ing the nest ; nor have I yet been able to unravel the mys- 

 tery. Another circumstance, evident from inspection, was, 

 that the young intruder had contrived to get the whole nest 

 to itself; and this object it was observed to effect by the 

 dexterous application of its wings and rump, by which it 

 elbowed the young redbreasts out of their paternal abode, and 

 became itself the pet. But the most curious circumstance 

 in the history of this little community is, the solicitude which 

 the female redbreast displayed for her foster-bird after it had 

 quitted the nest, and was able to fly about the orchard. For 

 many weeks did this kind-hearted but deluded bird follow 



