192 CUCKOO. 



According to Seebohm the males are much more 

 common than the females ; and it would further appear 

 that they do not pair at all. There is still much 

 doubt among ornithologists as to whether the note 

 "cuckoo" is uttered by only the male, or by both 

 birds. From all the evidence, one cannot help being 

 inclined to think that both birds do so. 



As we all know, the most interesting feature in 

 connection with the Cuckoo is that she builds no nest, 

 but deposits her eggs in that of some other bird. 

 The reason for this is supposed to be that the birds 

 do not stay long enough in our country to rear their 

 young, and so wisely resign them to some one else. 



The egg is disproportionately small to the size of 

 the bird, for whilst the Cuckoo is as large as the 

 male Sparrow Hawk (which bird it very closely re- 

 sembles in appearance), the egg is no larger than that 

 of a Lark, which seems a wise provision ; for were 

 the eggs in proportion to the bird, it seems hardly 

 probable they would be hatched by the small birds 

 in whose nests they are laid. The Cuckoo does not 

 seem to choose any particular species with whom to 

 intrust the bringing up of her young ; upwards of fifty 

 are mentioned, but the egg seems nearly always to 

 be laid in the nest of a bird that feeds her young on 

 insects or grubs, these being the ordinary food of the 

 Cuckoo. The favourite nests chosen are those of the 

 Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Hedge Sparrow. 



When the young Cuckoo is hatched, as it requires 

 all the food and room for itself, it generally manages 

 to eject the other young birds from the nest. How 

 it does this has long been a disputed point, but from 

 some very conclusive evidence which appears in the 

 Zoologist, 1886, pp. 203-205, there can be little doubt 

 that it hoists them out on its shoulders over the side, 



