130 BEYOND THE PASTURE BARS 



begin to infest the fruit trees the cuckoo comes 

 into the orchard as if sent to save the fruit 

 crop. 



Watch him, how quietly and thoroughly he 

 does his work. Well hidden among the branches, 

 he cocks his head under this bunch of leaves, then 

 under that; peeks here, then there, and when he 

 sees the worm flutters up and picks it off, then 



He eats caterpillars 



lights upon another branch for another search, 

 and so on until he has gone all over and cleaned 

 up the tree. 



He is a most useful bird, and also a most inter- 

 esting bird, and one that you can easily learn to 

 know. He is very slender the slenderest of our 



