130 CUCULUS CANORUS. 



ing observations. The male Titlark had disappeared for two 

 or three days, having been, in all probability, destroyed by a 

 Sparrow Hawk, which had young ones in the neighbourhood. 

 The female, notwithstanding the loss of her partner, continued 

 to shew to the Cuckoo the same unremitting kindness. Before 

 she went to feed it, she always alighted upon the top of a 

 Scotch fir, where she remained for some minutes looking 

 anxiously around. She then flew down upon the ground at 

 the distance of several yards from the nest, making zig-zag 

 windings, and occasionally standing still. She brought to it 

 sometimes snails, at other times a mouthful of large worms, 

 some of which were more than three inches in length. One 

 might have almost been inclined to believe that she was aware 

 of the nature of the intruder and the voracity of its disposition, 

 for I have never seen any of them bring such quantities of meat 

 when feeding their own young. At the regularity with which 

 she supplied its wants, I was truly surprised. For nine suc- 

 cessive hours, during which I had watched her, she gave it 

 food exactly four times in each hour. I remained until nine 

 o^clock. She however left off her parental duties at a quarter 

 past eight o'clock. In the morning she attempted to satisfy its 

 craving appetite more frequently, generally seven or eight times 

 within the hour. 



" I shall now give you a short account of the manner in which 

 the egg that I lately sent you was discovered to have been depo- 

 sited in the nest of the titlark. In its size, tint, and markings 

 it was the same as the one out of which the Cuckoo was hatched, 

 whose habits I have just now described. Two sons of Mr David 

 Tripeny, farmer in Coxmuir, assei-ted to me, that upon Sun- 

 day forenoon the 24tli of June 1838, when they were sitting 

 in a plantation tending their cattle, they saw a Cuckoo alight 

 at no great distance from them, upon a hillock of moss. It 

 picked up an egg with its bill, and after having looked round 

 about as if to ascertain whether there was any one in sight, it 

 hopped down with it amongst the heath. The lads immediately 

 ran to the place into which they had observed it descend, and 

 when at the distance of about six feet, they saw it rise from 

 the side of a titlark's nest into which it had introduced its head. 



