TILE WINTER LIFE OF A CUCKOO IN ENGLAND. 189 
Flycatcher or the common Redwing—without seeing what a 
secret power these little birds possess—a power which man cannot 
understand, and cannot acquire, but which is to them an infallible 
guide in their journeys across trackless seas and untrodden lands. 
T. MarsHALt. 
Ghee Winter Lite of a Cuckoo in England. 
T seems to be a generally received opinion that our annual 
visitant the Cuckoo, whose cheerful note announces the 
arrival of spring and summer, must either leave our shores 
before the approach of winter, or share in the death common 
to so large a proportion of our insect and vegetable life. It 
is certain that few of our bird-fanciers have succeeded in pre- 
serving one alive during the winter months. That they may 
be kept alive is proved by the existence of one now in possession 
of the writer. 
This bird was taken, in a half-fledged state, from the nest 
of a hedge-sparrow, early in the month of June. The first 
food provided for him was a boiled egg, which pleased his 
juvenile palate,—bruised seeds and soaked bread were also 
given to him. After a few days, worms and raw meat were 
offered. These provisions were greedily swallowed, though for 
some time he declined the trouble of feeding himself. During 
the severe weather when worms could not be procured, raw 
meat was preferred, but cooked meat, vegetables, bread and 
butter, indeed, almost anything was devoured. , On Christmas- 
day he dined offturkey and plum-pudding. Hot buttered crumpet 
is a favourite dish. The bird is extremely tame, the fecling of fear 
towards any of the household seems quite unknown. As the door 
of his cage is frequently left open, the cat, attracted by the smell 
of meat, sometimes ventures to put her nose in, and is rebuked 
