THE SWIFTS, WOODPECKEES, ETC. 201 



hunter ; and the papers even reported, let it be hoped in 

 error, that one of the last examples noted in this country- 

 was shot only last February (1897) by a Yorkshire parson, 

 who might have been better employed in ministering to 

 his flock. Besides the small numbers that arrive in the 

 Channel counties in spring, there is often a larger influx 

 in autumn. The bird is, however, only a rare straggler 

 to Scotland and the north of Ireland. Its flight is grace- 

 ful, as are also its stately movements on the ground, at 

 least where I have seen it on the Continent. The nest, 

 more off'ensive than even that of the kingfisher, is in some 

 hollow tree, the hole being found, not made. The bird 

 feeds entirely on insects, and is therefore quite harmless. 

 Eggs, 4 to 7, i inch ; pale green. 



8. The Cuckoo. 



The Cuckoo, that reaches us in spring, — the spring 

 is only a make - believe until the familiar note has 

 echoed through the woods, — is always on the move. In 

 March you may see it among the grey hills of Morocco : 

 northward it flies, however, for its remarkable breeding 

 operations ; and even when it has reached its goal in these 

 islands, there is no time for building a nest like other fowl, 

 but it must needs wander on from county to county, laying 

 an egg, now here, now there, in the nests of smaller birds, 

 the eggs of which bear in some cases a resemblance to its 

 own. That this protective instinct does not, however. 

 Protective carry it very far, may be gathered from the 

 colouriug fact that the brown egg is commonly found 

 of egg- reposing among the blue eggs of the hedge- 



sparrow, — I have, at one time or another, seen over thirty 

 eggs of the cuckoo in the nest of this bird, — to which it 

 can bear but the slightest resemblance. The egg has also 

 been taken from the nests of the blackbird and swallow. 

 Those who have no opj^ortunity of making the compari- 

 son out of doors may see the approximate effect in the 



