346 SCANSORES. 



kill by pressing them \\atli their bill before swallow- 

 ing them, usually cutting off the hinder end of the 

 insect, and by repeated jerks freeing it from extra- 

 neous matter ; they sometimes feed on perfect lepi- 

 dopterous insects. Their note is loud, and uttered 

 in a lengthened and melancholy manner, especially 

 early in the morning and at the decline of day, 

 sometimes even during the night. It is remarkable 

 that the females of our common species do not form 

 any nest, but mostly deposit their eggs in the nests 

 of sylvan birds, leaving to the foster-parent the 

 entire charge of hatching and rearing the young 

 Cuckoo, which, if it finds itself incommoded by the 

 rightful owners of the nest, casts them out to perish 

 on the ground ; so that the entire care of the foster- 

 parent is ultimately bestowed upon the intruder. 



The reason of this strange proceeding seems to be 

 that the Cuckoos produce their eggs only at inter- 

 vals of several days, and as their residence in tem- 

 perate climates is but short, the young could hardly 

 be brought to maturity by their own parents in time 

 to take their departure with them. The egg of the 

 Cuckoo is of very small size in comparison with the 

 bird ; its weight does not exceed that of a Skylark^s 

 egg, although the comparative size of the two birds 

 is as four to one. Hence the egg of the parasite is 

 readily introduced into the nest of its intended 

 foster-parent, and the latter is not alarmed, as it 

 might be, by the presence of an egg so large as to be 

 positively inconvenient. This is of some consequence, 

 as the birds whose nests are selected by the Cuckoo 

 for the reception of its eggs are all much less than 

 itself. The Cuckooes egg is hatched in a shorter 

 period than those of its foster-parent, and thus the 

 young Cuckoo commonly makes its appearance before 

 many of the eggs of the latter are hatched ; moreover, 

 as it has to grow rapidly, it requires to be supplied 

 with a much larger quantity of food than would fall 

 to its share if the insects and worms collected by 

 the old birds had to be divided among a nestful of 



