118 BIRDS 



unusually large mouth-spread. At the end of four days 

 some straggling downy hairs put in an appearance on 

 the bare spots, while the pin-feathers were developing 

 rapidly. 



In this bird the feathers remain sheathed up to the 

 last days in the nest, as the picture beautifully illus- 

 trates. The unhatched egg so often found in the nest 

 is accounted for by the habit the female has of laying 

 an egg after her incubating period has begun. 



At the end of seven days the young Cuckoo resembled 

 a porcupine more than a bird. I now cut the limb holding 

 the nest and brought it to the ground. Within three 

 feet of it I then put up the umbrella tent that I might 

 at close range observe minutely the rapid transition of 

 a porcupine-looking object into a fully feathered, beauti- 

 ful Rain Crow. 



I entered the tent with my camera at nine a. m. 

 Soon the parents renewed their feedings. What anxious, 

 expectant and sizzling moments I spent in that tent that 

 August day, for five or six hours, no one can imagine 

 unless he has endured the same. Did I enjoy it? Every 

 second was a thrill of pleasure, of new experience and 

 added knowledge. The first picture was made at nine 

 o'clock. (Fig. 50.) This shows the young by the un- 

 hatched egg; the horny, sheathed feathers were fully 

 two inches long, making the bird look like a porcupine. 

 About ten-thirty the sheaths began to burst, and with 

 each split a fully formed feather was liberated. This 

 process took place with such rapidity that it reminded 

 me of the commotion in a corn popper or a rapidly 

 blooming flower. All the while I was within three feet 

 of the bird, and could see every new feather, as it blos- 

 somed, so to speak. 



At three p. m., six hours after the first picture was 

 taken, I made another photograph, showing this same 

 bird in the full plumage of a Cuckoo, except the long tail. 

 (Fig. 51.) This was one of the most remarkable trans- 

 formations in so short a time that I have ever witnessed 

 in any living, blooded being. 



Thirty minutes after its transformation the young 

 bird left the nest and posed three feet from it for a 

 last picture. (Fig. 52.) I then emerged from the tent, 



