APRIL 57 



protected by another at its own expense, and that, 

 as Goethe observed, from six to a dozen singing- 

 birds may be sacrificed for a single cuckoo. 



The fact is that the young monster, the intruded 

 cuckoo, seems to exercise a fascination over the 

 smaller birds, who lose all sense of protective duty 

 to their young, and even to themselves, while they 

 are apparently possessed of admiration and pride in 

 the gluttonous interloper so much larger and more 

 insistent than any child they have hitherto reared. 



It is an interesting question whether the young 

 cuckoo learns its tribal song; from instinct or 



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whether its first chirp is that of its foster-parents. 

 Evidence is sparse on the point, but it seems to 

 lean to the side of the first contention, although an 

 acute observer, Lord Lilford, brought evidence to 

 bear which tends to support the contrary theory. 

 He owned a young cuckoo from the time that it 

 was taken from the nest until it was two years old, 

 and its only song was a chirp, although it was once 

 heard to make an attempt, which was a sad failure, 

 at the normal cuckoo call. But, on the other hand, 

 a certain Mr. Cochrane, a bird dealer of Edinburgh, 

 was the possessor of a cuckoo which persistently 

 sang its song through two summers. It had been 

 taken from a meadow-pipit's nest in Wigtonshire, 

 and was brought up by hand. Very soon it was 

 tamed and became a family pet, being allowed con- 

 siderable liberty in Mr. Cochrane's house. It ate 

 food from the hand with perfect confidence, and 

 must have been a voracious feeder, for it is recorded 

 that at one sitting it had been known to consume 

 seventy-three meal-worms. It would also enjoy 



