CUCKOO'S REAL HISTORY. 135 



the heedlessness of a careless mother, or with the 

 foresight of a prudent parent, she leaves it. 



The unfortunate birds whose nests are selected 

 far this outrage are by no means those of one 

 species. The ancients used to imagine that the 

 dove was nurse to the cuckoo ; this is an error. 

 The list given by Mr. Yarrell of birds in whose 

 nests the eggs have been found is as follows : the 

 hedge accentor, the robin, the redstart, white-throat, 

 willow-warbler, pied wagtail, meadow-pipit, rock 

 pipit, skylark, yellow bunting, chaffinch, greenfinch, 

 linnet, and blackbird. These are the common nests 

 selected by the cuckoo in our country. Others 

 have been found thus undesirably distinguished 

 abroad. The hedge-warbler, the pied wagtail, and 

 the meadow-pipit are those most frequently se- 

 lected with us, as their nests are not only numerous, 

 but also not difficult to discover. 



There is a great difference between the size 

 of any one of these birds and that of the cuckoo ; 

 and if the egg were proportionately large, it might 

 attract the attention of the outraged owner of the 

 nest, arid be deserted or expelled. It is a remark- 

 able circumstance that the egg is, on the contrary, 

 most disproportionately small compared to the 



