BIRDS, 



343 



nests principally selected are those of the Hedge Sparrow, the 

 Pied Wagtail, and the Meadow Pipit. The young Cuckoo, 

 soon after it has been hatched, throws out of the nest the 

 other young birds, and also the 

 eggs, remaining sole occupant of 

 the place, and securing to its own 

 use the food which the old birds 

 supply. This habit is the more 

 remarkable in our common 

 Cuckoo, as the American Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo, which has been 

 occasionally taken in these coun- 

 tries, builds a nest and rears up 

 the young in the ordinary way. 



Poets have delighted in offer- 

 ing to the Cuckoo as herald of 

 the spring their melodious tribute. 

 Wordsworth refers to the well- 

 known call of the male when the 

 bu'd itself is concealed : — 



Fig. 272.— Woodpecker. 



" Thrice welcomo darling of the spring ; 

 Even yet thou art to me 

 No bird, but an invisible thing — 

 A voice, a mystery." 



Its cheerful note, and the verdure with which in our minds 

 it is associated, are alluded to, no less happily, by another 

 writer : — 



" Sweet bird ! thy bower is ever green, 

 'I'hy sky is ever clear; 

 Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, 

 No winter in thy year." — Logan. 



