THE CUCKOO 285 



for a long time upon one particular perch, calling at 

 intervals, so long as it is undisturbed. This song is 

 also heard from time to time as- the bird is flying, 

 generally when about to alight, as we are reminded 

 in the old couplet : 



" The Cuckoo is a merry bird, 

 He sings as he flies." 



The bird sings early and late. The female too utters 

 a very peculiar and characteristic cry, a bubbling 

 note impossible to express in words. Besides these 

 notes, Cuckoos of both sexes utter a chattering kind 

 of cry, especially when excited. 



The parasitic habits of the Cuckoo are known 

 to most readers. It is impossible to enter here 

 very fully into what is a very intricate subject : 

 our entire volume might be occupied with this 

 portion of the bird's economy alone. It will be suffi- 

 cient here for our purpose to say that the female 

 Cuckoo soon after her arrival, and often in more 

 or less close concert with a male, seeks out the 

 nest of some small insectivorous bird and inserts 

 her ^'gg, leaving it to be incubated and the young 

 tended by the birds she has so curiously duped. 

 The ^<g<g appears first to be laid upon the ground, 

 and then carried in the mouth until a suitable 

 nest is reached into which it can be gently dropped. 

 Cuckoo's eggs have been found in the nests of 

 a great number of species (some of them totally 



