WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 



187 



the young Cuckoos were arrayed 

 in all the gh)ry of real plumage. 

 The next day the three left the 

 nest and I was unable to find 

 them again. 



During this period of brood- 

 ing and caring for the young 

 the adult Cuckoos, though at 

 first suspicious, became some- 

 what reconciled to my visits ; 

 at any rate, they neither moved 

 the eggs — as cuckoos 

 have been thought to 

 do when d i s t u rb e d — ^i: 



nor deserted them. At 

 my approach the mother 

 would ruffle her feathers 

 until the usually sleek, slen- 

 der bird seemed to be bri- 

 tling with rage, her hea(i 

 extended on a level with 

 her body and her long tail 

 slightly elevated. liut "(t 

 though her eye followed mc with 

 unwinking intensity, she would 

 not desert her post, nor did 1 

 ever force her to do so. 



The clear '' kow-kow-kow ' of 

 the father-bird could be licard 

 far into tlu^ niiilit. if (lie moon 



n-' 



387 a. (^AI.IFO|!NIA ri'CKOO. 



"//(• ir/7.T buxi/ /fff.ifhifl where 

 the lent caterpillars nested. ""^ 



