a ee tty 
Observations on the Cuckoo. 443 
undertook to investigate the habits and eco- 
nomy of this extraordinary bird, and in the 
course of his researches, which were conducted 
with great care and assiduity, he discovered 
a number of curious facts, scarcely less won- 
derful than the marvellous but visionary specu- 
lations of the ancients themselves. The 
following brief abstract will serve to convey 
some idea of what his skill and industry 
effected. 
Mr Jenner informs us, that the first ap- 
pearance of cuckoos in Gloucestershire, 
where his observations were made, is about 
the 17th of April. The song of the male, 
which is well known, soon proclaims his ar- 
rival: thatof the female (if the peculiar notes 
of which it is composed may be so called) is 
widely different, and has been so little at- 
tended to, that few are acquainted with it; 
it is thought, however, to bear some resem- 
blance to the cry of the little grebe. 
Unlike the generality of birds, cuckoos do 
not pair, and as their eggs are seldom met 
with till about the middle of May, it is sup- 
posed that the females do not begin to lay 
till some weeks after their arrival. Cuckoos 
deposit their eggs in the nests of a great va- 
viety of small birds, intrusting them to the 
care of the hedge warbler, pied wagtail, 
