194 A CLEVER CUCKOO. 



Finding that his voice did not drive me away, 

 the bird resorted to another method; he tried 

 intimidation. First he threw himself into a 

 most curious attitude, humping his shoulders 

 and opening his tail like a fan, then spreading 

 his wings and resting the upper end of them on 

 his tail, which made at the back a sort of scoop 

 effect. Every time he uttered the cry he lifted 

 wings and tail together, and let them fall slowly 

 back to their natural position. It was the queer- 

 est bird performance I ever saw. 



During all this excitement there sounded from 

 a little distance a low single "coo," which, I 

 suppose, was the voice of his mate. Not wish- 

 ing to make a serious disturbance in the family, 

 and seeing that he was not to be conciliated, I 

 walked slowly on, looking in the nest as I passed. 

 It contained one egg that looked like a robin's, 

 and beside it a small bundle of what resembled 

 black flesh stuck full of white pins. This, then, 

 was the cuckoo baby; surely an odd one ! 



On the third day after this experience we were 

 fortunate enough again to find the nest uncov- 

 ered. A second youngster lay beside the first, 

 and the two entirely filled the nest. They were 

 perhaps two and a half inches long, and resem- 

 bled, as said above, mere lumps of flesh. After 

 looking at the young family, we seated ourselves 

 a little way off to wait for some one to come 

 home. 



