40 WILD LIFK IN CHINA. 



the ciarl-;. Then agani, the migratory mystery arises. The 

 parent birds have gone in July. The \oung remain till late 

 in August, or September. I shot one once in this province 

 in October. How do they know that they ha\'e to go south? 

 Who informs them. How do they know which wa^' to go? 

 The answer usually lies in that blessed word "Instinct." 

 which in this case is synonymous with '"Human Ignorance." 

 Once more, we cannot tell. Once again, we have to acknow- 

 ledge ourselves in the presence of a mystery. It stimulates 

 our interest immensely, and perhaps by and by there will be 

 no mystery at all. Nature will havegiven up the secret she has 

 sojealouslj' guarded allthistime, but till she does this mans 

 interest in the cuckoo will continue. He may be the most im- 

 moral, the most unfeeling and in many ways the most un- 

 w^orthj' of our respect, but till we have unravelled his secret 

 he is sure of our regard. 



