462 THE CUCKOO 



THE CUCKOO 1 



[F. B. KIRKMAN] 



The examination candidate's assertion that the cuckoo is "the 

 bird that does not lay its own eggs," trespasses, no doubt, outside the 

 region of fact. But though the cuckoo has not supernatural powers, 

 its habits are so peculiar that they have become an object of excep- 

 tional interest not only to ornithologists but to the public at large. 

 This interest has shown itself in an enormous literature, far exceeding 

 that relating to any other species, or even to any other family of 

 birds. From this it has been possible to extract a large amount of 

 trustworthy information. There are still important gaps to be filled 

 in, and the fundamental problems raised by the facts are as far 

 from solution as ever, but enough is known to enable the cuckoo's 

 biographer to give a fairly complete account of the chief events 

 of its life. 



Most of the birds arrive on our shores from their winter quarters 

 in Africa during the month of April. A few individuals arrive 

 earlier, and some again as late as mid-May. The males, as is the 

 case with probably all migrant species, are to be found in their 

 breeding-places several days before the females. 2 There can be 

 little doubt that they return each year to the same place, in this, 

 again, resembling other migrant species. One cuckoo, recognised by 

 a peculiarity in its note, was observed by Naumann to come back to 

 its former haunts twenty-five years in succession. 3 Others have made 

 similar observations. 4 



The cuckoo's favourite resort is open woodland, but it may be 



1 The cuckoo's foster-parents and eggs are treated separately (p. 487). 



1 "According to reliable observations the female arrives 8-10 days after the male." J. A. 

 Link in the Verhandlungen der Ornith. Gesellschaft in Bayern, 1903, 142. 



' Voyel Mitteleuropas, iv. 398. 4 Zoologist, 1889, 33 (A. Walter). 



