AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 245 



with more of this species or found so many of their 

 eggs as in the locality just mentioned. The Cuckoo 

 is most noisy and conspicuous a few days after its 

 first arrival, the male birds, as is the case with many 

 migratory species, coming before the females ; the 

 latter are certainly in the minority, and the supply is 

 apparently by no means equal to the demand ; for 

 constant quarrels and occasionally fierce encounters 

 take place amongst the males, the vanquished gene- 

 rally retiring to a short distance and relieving his 

 ardour by incessant clamour. We have been re- 

 minded on these occasions of the scenes frequently 

 to be witnessed amongst Red Deer in Scotland in 

 the month of October; in both cases it frequently 

 occurs that during a hot engagement between two 

 champions a third suitor seizes the opportunity ; for 

 these birds certainly do not pair, but the hen accepts 

 the attentions of an indefinite number of the other 

 sex. During these skirmishes the male bird often 

 utters a somewhat guttural chiding note, and now 

 and then appears to have a difficulty in getting out 

 a full " cuckoo," stopping short at the first syllable, 

 whilst the female occasionally produces a cry which 

 somewhat resembles that of the Green Woodpecker 

 when heard at a considerable distance. In our neigh- 

 bourhood the nests generally selected by the Cuckoo 

 are those of the Reed-Warbler ; we have also found 

 the eggs of this bird in nests of the Pied Wagtail. 

 Tree-Pipit, Hedge-Sparrow, Redstart, Spotted Fly- 

 catcher, and Sedge- Warbler ; a footnote appended 

 to the description of the Cuckoo in the fourth 

 edition of Yarrell's ' British Birds ' states that the 

 nests of no less than seventy-eight species of birds 

 have been recorded as containing eggs of this species. 



