THE CUCKOO 



found brooding almost e \cr\where. amon;: sandhills, lor instance, and 

 also on grouse-moon*. 1 



Each cuckoo confines itself to a more or less well-defined area, 

 from which it probably only issues, if a cock, when in pursuit of a hen. 

 I n this area it has its favourite trees and perches. It may frequently 

 be seen Hying from one to the other, and, day after day, its note may 

 be heard coming from the same spot The bird with a peculiarity in 

 its voice, referred to above, occupied a district, of which Naumann's 

 own wood was the centre, which embraced three or four villages. One 

 year another cuckoo arrived before the rightful owner and took 

 possession. On the appearance of the latter, there followed a series 

 of fierce combats, which resulted finally in a division of the original 

 district into two parts, an arrangement which appears to have been 

 continued in the following years. 3 



It seems reasonable to assume that this subdivision of territory 

 may occur in the case of any species of which the individuals confine 

 themselves during the breeding season within definite boundaries. 

 If it occurs before the arrival of the female, she has the alternative 

 either of yielding to the new order and throwing in her lot with one 

 of the males, or else of continuing to fly freely about the whole of the 

 original territory, and accepting the attentions of both males. The 

 former is the usual habit of most species, judging from the fact alone 

 that they are monogamous. The latter is unquestionably the course that 

 would be pursued by the hen cuckoo, for it is her habit to mate with 

 more than one cock. 3 The particular hen that returned to the locality 

 referred to by Naumann would have had no difficulty in adapting 

 herself to the new circumstances. The district she frequented may, 



1 T. A. Coward, Fauna of Chethirt, \. 208; Droate-HUhUioff, I'ogtltrelt dtr ffurdwtrinml 

 Borlntm, 84. 



* Loc.cit. 



1 In reference to the polyandry of the cuckoo, Bailly write*: "Pour m'amurer d'un fait 

 anmi important pour I'histoire du coucou. il a fallu me aoumettre pendant pluxienn pr in tempt 

 oonaecutifa a examiner treo minutieuaemcnt cet oUeau pendant ea ebate amoureux. Cert alor* 

 qne j'ai vu frequemment . . . den femellea laiaaer den mAlen qui venaient de lea feconder pour 

 M rendre directement aux deaira dea autrea male* qui lea reclamaient dans le meme canton." 

 Omilhologit de la Savoie, i. 881. See alao Lilford'a Bird* of \orthanl*. i. 251 : " The hen accept* 

 the attention* of an indefinite number of the other ex." 



