A Cuckoo comes to the House. 139 



now in the cow} r ards among the cattle, now in the 

 rickyard, and even close to the door of the dwelling- 

 house, especially frequenting the courtyard in front 

 of the dairy. As he flies he rises up and then sinks 

 again, in a succession of undulations, now spreading 

 the tail out and now closing it. On the ground he 

 generally alights near water ; he is continually jerking 

 the tail up and down. 



One spring a cuckoo came to this nest in the ivy 

 close to the casement ; she was seen flying near the 

 house several times, and, being observed to visit the 

 ivy-covered gable, was finally traced to the wagtail's 

 nest. For several da}*s in succession, and several 

 times a day, the cuckoo came, and would doubtless 

 have left an egg had not she been shot by a person 

 who wanted a cuckoo to stuff. 



It is difficult to understand upon what principle 

 the cuckoo selected a nest thus placed. The ordi- 

 nary considerations put forward as guiding birds and 

 animals in their actions quite fail. Instinct would 

 scarcely choose a spot so close to a house actually 

 on it ; the desire of safety would not lead to it either, 

 nor the idea of concealment. She might, no doubt, 

 have found nests enough at a distance from houses, 

 and much more likely to escape observation. Was 

 there any kind of feeling that this particular wagtail was 

 more likely to take care of the offspring than others ? 



I doubt the cuckoo's alleged total indifference to 

 her young. They certainly linger in the neighbor- 

 hood of the nests which they have selected to deposit 

 their eggs in. On another occasion a cuckoo used a 

 wagtail's nest in a different part of the garden here 

 in some ivy that had grown round the decaying 



