CUCKOO 



COMMON CUCKOO GOWK. 



PLATE LVII. 



Cuculus canorus, . . . LINNAEUS. MONTAGU. 

 Cuculus hcpaticus, . . . LATHAM. 



species deposits its eggs in the nest of some 

 1 other small bird, for which they are not too large, 

 being singularly small in proportion to its own size. The 

 female is now known to lay her eggs on the ground, and 

 to carry them to the nest of the bird she designs for the 

 foster parent in her bill. 



The eggs are not laid until the middle of May, and 

 they require about a fortnight's incubation. They are 

 usually of a dusky greenish or reddish grey colour, mottled 

 over with a darker shade. Montagu found one so late 

 as the 2 6th of June ; and Mr. Jesse records that a young 

 Cuckoo, which had only just left the nest of a Wagtail, was 

 found in Hampton Court Park on the i8th of August 

 1832. The young birds are not able to fly in less than 

 five or six weeks. 



Occasionally two or even three Cuckoo's eggs are found 

 in the same nest. It is known, however, that the Cuckoo 

 lays several eggs in different nests, probably from five to 

 eight, at intervals of seven or eight days, during the season. 



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