288 CUCKOO. 



the countries bordering the Mediterranean, as well as in North 

 Africa ; but to the Canaries and Madeira the Cuckoo is only an 

 irregular visitor. In Asia it breeds down to the Himalayas and 

 perhaps further south ; while in winter it reaches the Philippines, 

 Celebes, Burma and Ceylon, as well as Natal in Africa. Allied 

 species occur in both the above continents. 



The female, which resorts to the same locality year after year, 

 deposits her egg on the ground, and then conveys it in her bill to 

 the nest of some bird destined to act as foster-parent. In this 

 country the latter is commonly the Meadow-Pipit, Pied Wagtail, 

 Hedge-Sparrow, Sedge- Warbler and Reed-\\'arbler ; less frequently 

 the Yellow- and Cirl-Bunting, with many others. In ' The Ibis,' 

 i8g6, p. 397, is an interesting list of these, compiled by Mr. Bidwell. 

 The egg, which averages about S^ by 75 in., varies considerably, 

 and, though usually of a greenish- or reddish-grey, with darker 

 cloudings and spots, it sometimes, but not always, resembles the eggs 

 of the foster-bird. For instance. Cuckoo's eggs placed in the nest of 

 the Orphean \A'arbler, Garden ^^'arbler, and Blackcap (supra, p. 46), 

 are chiefly distinguishable by their size ; while eggs of a pale blue 

 have been found, though these have not invariably been located in 

 nests of the Hedge-Sparrow or the Redstart. From 5-8 are 

 produced by the female in the season ; and 12-13 days are required 

 for incubation. There is a statement, made in Germany, that 

 exceptionally the Cuckoo hatches its own eggs. When only thirty 

 hours old, the intruder begins to eject the other nestlings by the aid of 

 a cavity in its back, which fills up after the twelfth day ,; and when two 

 Cuckoos are in the same nest the struggle for existence is sometimes 

 severe. The food consists of insects and their larvK, especially hairy 

 caterpillars ; the indigestible portions being thrown up in pellets. 

 Up to June 20th the male calls on the wing, as well as when 

 perched ; the female utters a water-bubbling or whistling note. 

 The superficial resemblance of the Cuckoo to a Hawk undoubtedly 

 proves deceptive to other birds ; while ignorant persons frequently 

 assert that " Cuckoos turn to Hawks in winter." 



The adults of both sexes are greyish-ash above and on the throat, 

 with small white spots on the darker grey tail, and dusky bars on the 

 white under parts; irides, legs and feet, yellow. Length 13 in.; 

 wing 8"5 in. The female sometimes shows a slight rufous tinge on 

 the breast. The young has the upper parts clove-brown ; a white 

 spot on the nape ; irides brown. Birds of both sexes are sometimes 

 found in spring of a rich chestnut-brown, like a female Kestrel, and 

 this form has been distinguished as C. riiftis. 



