THE CUCKOO. 31 



appetite I could never give it sufficient food, and my ears 

 were incessantly dinned with its call. Very few days after- 

 wards a young cock thrush came into my hands ; and it being 

 soon able to feed itself, for the sake of convenience I put the 

 birds together into one large cage. They were not long to- 

 gether before the cuckoo scrambled up to the thrush and 

 began its call, and continued it for several hours. I observed 

 the thrush take a piece of meat towards its companion ; and 

 the idea occurred to me that if I left them alone, the thrush 

 would feed it. I left the door of the room a little open, and 

 did not wait watching long before I saw the young thrush 

 feed the cuckoo. From this time I never had any more 

 trouble; the cuckoo grew fat and healthy, and the thrush 

 seemed quite satisfied with its state of servitude. Afterwards 

 I determined to try if the cuckoo required all the help it re- 

 ceived, and removed the thrush. In a few minutes I observed 

 the cuckoo (apparently without any difficulty,) helping itself. 

 In about a week I again replaced the thrush, and the cuckoo 

 found its voice again and forgot how to take care of itself. 

 The thrush did not relish its occupation; and it was not until 

 after it had received a severe beating, and one of its eyes 

 nearly torn out of its head, that it would feed the cuckoo again. 

 The injury that the thrush received in its eye was the cause 

 of its death a few weeks after. Since this experiment, I have 

 been anxious to know what birds will attend to the cuckoo's 

 cry ; and I found the lark would sometimes do so, but more 

 frequently beat it, and the cuckoo died of ill usage. A linnet 

 which I placed with another cuckoo did its duty well for 

 some time, but at last let the cuckoo die of neglect. — Perhaps 

 some of your readers will follow up these experiments with 

 me, that we may compare notes. 



About the middle of September I was awakened by the 

 constant fluttering the cuckoo made in its cage, which at 

 night I always placed in my bed-room. After repeated watch- 

 ing at night, I found that from shortly after sun-set to a 

 little before sun-rise, this bird for nearly a month continued 

 to wave its wings as if in flight; and sometimes, as if forget- 

 ting that it was confined, it would hit its head against the 

 top of the cage. I have no doubt it was instinct teaching it 

 to quit our country, as during the period of its would-be emi- 

 gration it was very quiet all day, but as soon as it was over, 

 it became as lively, active, and noisy as ever. 



Can any of your readers inform me where the cuckoo 

 goes to ? I find there are three kinds at the Cape of Good 

 Hope during the summer, one very similar to that which 

 visits us. v Wt C. 



