THE CUCKOO. 85 



appearance here is about the middle of April, commonly 

 on the 17th. Its egg is not ready for incubation till 

 some weeks after its arrival, seldom before the middle 

 of May. A fortnight is taken up by the sitting bird 

 in hatching the egg. The young bird generally con- 

 tinues three weeks in the nest before it flies, and the 

 foster-parents feed it more than five weeks after this 

 period, so that if a cuckoo should be ready with an egg 

 much sooner than the time pointed out, not a single 

 nestling, even one of the earliest, would be fit to provide 

 for itself before its parent would be instinctively direct- 

 ed to seek a new residence, and be thus compelled to 

 abandon its young one ; for old cuckoos take their final 

 leave of this country the first week in July." 



A young cuckoo, brought to Colonel Montagu, in 

 July, just as it could fly, was, by great care, kept alive 

 till the middle of December. During that time it had 

 two or three attacks of dysentery, from which it re- 

 covered by having chalk and ginger given to it. For 

 two months after it was caught it never attempted to 

 feed itself by picking ; and even to the last moment 

 seemed to prefer being fed by the hand of its mistress 

 to the trouble of picking up its food, of which it was 

 extremely choice. Nothing appeared so acceptable a 

 substitute for insects as raw beef. It would eagerly 



