Picine and Cuckoo-like Birds. 



93 



Cuckoo does not make a nest of its own, but places its egg in those of other 

 birds, leaving the latter to hatch it out along with their own rightful offspring. 

 Then when all the young birds are hatched together, the 3'oung Cuckoo disposes 

 of the occupants of the nest by tilting them over the side, so that they perish while 

 the Cuckoo endures, and receives for the rest of the summer the unremitting care 

 and attention of its two foster parents. The eggs of the Cuckoo vary ad Infinitum. 

 Some are brown, others are grey, with or without darker brown mottling, some 

 are quite pale, others whitish with dark brown spots, while some are even clear 

 blue ; they are remarkable for their small size, considering the bulk of the bird 

 which lays them, and this doubtless renders the deception practised on the foster- 

 mother more easy of accomplishment, as the Cuckoo's egg so little exceeds that 

 of the rightful owner of the nest. 



The food of the Cuckoo consists almost entirely of insects, and the fact that it 

 robs other birds of their eggs has been noted by some recent observers, but when 

 the bird has been shot with an egg in its mouth, there can be no doubt that it is 

 often the Cuckoo's own egg which it was carrying at the time to some nest it 



intended to victimise. That the Cuckoo lays its egg on the ground and then carries 



it in its bill to the nest selected for its deposition seems to be a well-established fact. 

 The range of the Cuckoo extends over Europe and Siberia, and it winters in 



Western and Southern Africa as well as the Indian Peninsula. It is a common 



bird in Northern Europe in the summer, and 



in Northern Norwa}- I have heard the birds 



calling abundantly in June, while doubtless the 



number of Meadow Pipits' nests on the moors 



afford ample opportunity for the exercise of its 



parasitic habits. 



The present species 

 occasionally strays to 

 Great Britain, having 

 been captured on two 

 occasions, once in Ire- 

 land, and once in Northumberland. It has 



occurred in manv places in Central Europe, 



but its breeding-home is in the Mediterranean 



countries, where it nests in Southern Spain 



and Northern Africa. In winter it betakes 



itself to Western Africa and even reaches 



to the Cape Colony. Like our Common 



Cuckoo, its southern relative is parasitic 



in its nesting habits, and it deposits its eggs 



in the nests of Crows and Magpies, some- 



THE 



GREAT SPOTTED 



CUCKOO. 



{CoL'cystes glandarius.) 



The Great Spotted Cuckoo. 



