142 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



finch, linnet, wren, and blackbird, are all subject 

 to be imposed upon more or less frequently, the 

 pipit being more often made use of than the rest ; 

 but the thrush seems to be exempt. So it is 

 all the more remarkable that a bird of this 

 species should have elected to feed a cuckoo. 

 But all the birds seem to go mad on the subject 

 of young cuckoos, and if one presents a deaf 

 ear to the pleadings for food, another is ever 

 ready to undertake the heavy responsibility of 

 supplying the larder. A friend of mine, in whose 

 garden a young cuckoo was being brought up 

 by some small birds (I forget what description 

 of birds they were), told me that it was almost 

 piteous to observe the frantic endeavours the 

 poor little creatures made to supply their adopted 

 infant with food. 



It is curious how very disproportionate some 

 eggs are to the size of the bird. Thus, the mound 

 bird, a native of Australia, lays the largest egg of 

 any bird in proportion to its size. The measure- 

 ment which I have procured of this bird is as 

 follows : from the tip of the bill to the end of the 

 body, eleven inches. The size of the egg is three 

 and' three-eighths inches by two and one- eighth 

 inches. The egg of the cuckoo is perhaps the 

 smaller in proportion to the size of the bird ; in 

 both instances the dispensation of Providence 

 is apparent. Were the egg of the cuckoo pro- 

 portionate to the size of the bird, it would be too 

 large for the purpose of incubation in the nests of 



