108 THE CUCKOO. 



should subsist on the same food with the hard-billed ; for the 

 former have thin membranaceous stomachs suited to their 

 soft food ; while the latter, the granivorous tribe, have strong 

 muscular gizzards, which, like mills, grind, by the help of 

 small gravels and pebbles, what is swallowed. "This proceed- 

 ing of the cuckoo, of dropping its eggs as it were by chance, 

 is such a monstrous outrage on maternal affection, one of the 

 first great dictates of nature, and such a violence on instinct, 

 that had it only been related of a bird in the Brazils or Peru, 

 it would never have merited our belief.* But yet, should it 

 farther appear that this simple bird, when divested of that 

 natural a-Topyf) that seems to raise the kind in general above 

 themselves, and inspire them with extraordinary degrees of 

 cunning and address, may be still endued with a more en- 

 larged faculty of discerning what species are suitable and 

 congenerous nursing mothers for its disregarded eggs and 

 young, and may deposit them only under their care, this 

 would be adding wonder to wonder, and instancing, in a 

 fresh manner, that the methods of Providence are not sub- 

 jected to any mode or rule, but astonish us in new lights, 

 and in various and changeable appearances. 



What was said by a very ancient and sublime writer con- 

 cerning the defect of natural affection in the ostrich, may 

 be well applied to the bird we are talking of : 



" She is hardened against her young ones, as though they 

 were not hers : 



" Because Grod hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath 

 he imparted to her understanding." f 



Query. Does each female cuckoo lay but one egg in a 

 season, or does she drop several in different nests, according 

 as opportunity offers ? J 



* If the cuckoo made a nest as other birds do, and fed and brought up its 

 young in the usual way, would not the harsh note of the male bird lead to the 

 easy discovery of the nest, and thus the breed might be extinguished? ED. 



f Jobxxxix. 16,17. 



J It is now known from the examination of the ovarium, that the cuckoo 

 lays several eggs. ED. 



