THE CUCKOO. 265 





ing a nest for itself % Is it because almost alone of all the 

 feathered race, it is without those affections and sympathies 

 which, are discoverable and innate in every other species % Is 

 it because it is unfitted, from its structure or mode of life, for 

 those sedentary habits essential to incubation t 



To this, and a thousand other such marvellous instincts and 

 habits, we have no answer to give. The why and the where- 

 fore are yet to be learned. But that He who gave the bird 

 such an apparently unnatural habit had His reasons for so 

 doing, there can be no doubt ; and it is one of the pleasing 

 occupations and pursuits of a naturalist to use all diligence, 

 diving as far as possible into these mysteries, and finding out, 

 as far as he can, why what is apparently wrong may neverthe- 

 less be really right, a working together for a good end, and a 

 fulfilment of one great uniform design of Perfection and 

 Wisdom. 



In p. 170, a curious case was mentioned of a Cuckoo having 

 been fed by a Thrush of its own age. The bird was success- 

 fully reared, and continued in good health till about the period 

 at which other birds of its kind were in the habit of leaving 

 the country, when it began to mope, particularly during the 

 day ; towards night, however, it became more restless and 

 fidgety, fluttering about, and flying up and down the cage. 

 After this, not being able to escape, it recovered its spirits, 

 and was alive and in good health in October 1832, when the 

 narrative reached us, though it probably died in the course of 

 the winter, the usual fate of numbers which have been kept in 

 a state of confinement. We do not, indeed, recollect a single 

 well-authenticated instance of one of these birds living for a 

 year, when kept in confinement, which is the more surprising, 

 as their usual insect food might be generally procured. 



To naturalists various other peculiarities in the Cuckoo are 

 well known, but in closing our account, we would refer to two 

 more particularly worthy of notice, as instances of the wonder- 

 ful manner in which its wants are assisted by nature. The 

 Cuckoo, as we have said, lays its eggs in the nest of a small 

 bird ; of course, if this egg were large in proportion to the size 

 of the parent bird, it would be far too large for the little nest 



