84 BRITISH BIRDS. 



of them from the nest. When it is about twelve days 

 old, this cavity is quite filled up, and then the back 

 assumes the shape of nestling birds in general." 



The substances found inthe stomach of young cuckoos 

 are various, depending upon the species of bird by 

 which they are fed. They consist of flies, beetles, ca- 

 terpillars, grasshoppers, and small snails. When fed 

 by any of the finches, which are rather vegetable feed- 

 ers, they are supplied with young wheat, small vetches, 

 tender shoots of grass, and seeds. Adult cuckoos seem 

 more partial to hairy caterpillars. The young are fre- 

 quently found in a nest in a hedge-row, by their almost 

 incessant querulous note, which appears to be a call for 

 food ; and they are voracious feeders. The young are 

 sometimes, by great care, kept alive in confinement 

 over the first winter, but seldom survive long after- 

 wards. The best food for them is raw beef chopped 

 small, and mixed with the yolk of an egg. 



'^ To what cause then," says Dr. Jenner, " may we 

 attribute the singularities of the cuckoo ? May they 

 not be owing to the following circumstances? The 

 short residence this bird is allowed to make in the coun- 

 try where it is destined to propagate its species, and the 

 call that nature has upon it, during that short residence, 

 to produce a numerous progeny. The cuckoo's first 



