Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



misdeeds it plays on other birds in its deter- 

 mination to escape the hardest part of the rear- 

 ing of its young, have saddled the cuckoo with 

 all sorts of gratuitous crimes. It is said to live 

 in lawless love, like the cowbird of America. 

 It is accused of killing the young in the nest 

 of the little bird where it has placed its own 

 egg to be hatched. It is charged with desert- 

 ing its own offspring forever, out of pure 

 laziness and hardness of heart, nay, even of 

 devouring its foster-parents ! 



But some careful observers have maintained 

 that cuckoos pair for life and are steadfast 

 mates, do not directly kill the young of the 

 foster-birds nor break their eggs; yet they 

 acknowledge that the female cuckoo removes 

 the eggs of the foster-mother after its own 

 child is hatched. The mother keeps her eye 

 on each nest where one of her eggs has been 

 placed, watches over the growth of her off- 

 spring, and, when the latter is ready to fly, 

 takes possession of it, and presumably begins 



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