popular JBittt0narj) at gmmatcXr $ature. 163 



enemy, but have also the faculty of repro- 

 ducing the severed limb, which, however, is 

 always of a less size than the others, until it 

 has once or twice changed its crust. The 

 reader is referred to Prof. Milne Edwards's 

 Hist. Nat. des Crustacees, and to Prof. Bell's 

 British Crustacea, for further information. 

 See also numerous scattered articles in this 

 work. 



CRUSIAN. (Cyprinus curassius.") A 

 fish of the carp kind, which, though common 

 enough in many parts of England, is be- 

 lieved to be not a native fish. It is from 

 eight to ten inches in length ; very deep and 

 thick, and the back much arched. The colour 

 is a deep olivaceous yellow, with a slight 

 silvery tinge on the belly ; lateral line 

 straight ; tins dull violet ; the dorsal fin 

 broad, and extending a considerable dis- 

 tance from the middle of the back towards 

 the tail. The flesh is coarse, and conse- 

 quently in little esteem. 

 CTENOMYS. [See TUCUTUCO.] 

 CUCKOO. (Cuculus canortts.) This bird, 

 whose parasitic habits have so long been a 

 subject of popular interest, and regarding 

 whose general economy so much speculation 

 has been indulged in, is about fourteen 

 inches in length, and twenty-five in breadth 

 when extended : the bill is black and some- 

 what bent ; irides yellow ; inside of the 

 mouth red ; its head, neck, back, and wing- 

 coverts pale blue, darkest on the head and 

 back, and palest on the forepart of the neck 

 and rump ; breast and belly white, ele- 

 gantly crossed with wavy bars of black ; 

 quill feathers dusky, the inner webs marked 

 with white oval spots ; the tail long, the 

 two middle feathers black, with white spots 

 on each side of the shaft ; legs short and 

 yellow ; toes, two forward, two backward ; 

 the outer one being directed forward or 

 backward at pleasure ; claws white. The 

 female is rather less than the male, and 



CUCKOO. (CUCUI.TJS CANOR.US.) 



somewhat differs in colour ; the neck and 

 breast being of a tawny brown, with dusky 

 bars ; and the wing-coverts marked with 



light ferruginous spots. 



the young is very dissimilar to that of 



The plumage ol 



e young is very dissimlar to that of the 

 adult bird ; it is supposed, indeed, that they 



do not throw off the nestling feathers till 

 he second year's moulting. 



The Cuckoo is a migratory bird, visiting 

 this country early in spring, and generally 

 quitting it at the commencement of July : 

 ts well-known note is usually first heard 

 about the middle of April, and ceases at the 

 end of June. Contrary to the general eco- 

 nomy of the feathered creation, it constructs 

 no nest, and never hatches its own eggs ; but 

 deposits them in the nests of other birds, 

 as the hedge-sparrow, titlark, water-wag- 

 tail, &c., preferring, as it would seem, the 

 first-mentioned. During the time the hedge- 

 sparrow is laying her eggs, which generally 

 occupies four or five days, the Cuckoo 

 contrives to deposit her egg among the rest, 

 caving the future care of it entirely to the 

 hedge-sparrow. This intrusion often oc- 

 casions discomposure, for the hedge-sparrow, 

 at intervals, whilst sitting, not only throws 

 out some of her own eggs, but injures others 

 in such a way that they become addled, so 

 that not more than two or three of them 

 are hatched along with that of the Cuckoo ; 

 and what is very remarkable, she never 

 throws out or injures the egg of the intruder. 

 When she has disengaged the young Cuckoo 

 and her own offspring from the shell, her 

 young ones, and any of the eggs that remain 

 unhatched, are soon turned out by the young 

 Cuckoo, who then remains in full possession 

 of the nest, and becomes the sole object of 

 the care of its foster parents. The young 

 birds are not previously killed, nor the eggs 

 demolished, but all are left to perish to- 

 gether, either entangled in the bush which 

 contains the nest, or lying on the ground 

 near it. The mode of accomplishing the 

 ejectment is curious : The Cuckoo, very 

 soon after being hatched, and consequently 

 while it is yet blind, contrives with its rump 

 and wings to get the hedge-sparrow, or the 

 egg, upon its back, and making a lodgment 

 for its burden by elevating its elbows, 

 clambers backwards with it up the side of 

 the nest, till it reaches the top, where, rest- 

 ing for a moment, it throws off its load with a 

 jerk, and quite disengages it from the nest ; 

 nfter remaining a short time in this situation, 

 and feeling about with the extremities of its 

 wings, as if to be convinced that the business 

 has been properly executed, it drops into 

 the nest again. Nature seems to have pro- 

 vided, even in the formation of the Cuckoo, 

 for the exercise of this peculiar instinct ; 

 for, unlike other newly hatched birds, its 

 back, from the scapulas downwards, is very 

 broad, with a considerable depression in the 

 middle, as if for the purpose of giving a more 

 secure lodgment to the egg, or the young 

 bird, while the intruder is employed in 

 removing either of them from the nest; 

 when about twelve days old, this cavity is 

 filled up, the back assumes the shape of 

 nestling birds in general, and the disposition 

 for turning out any bird or substance placed 

 in the nest entirely ceases. The smallness 

 of the Cuckoo's egg is another circumstance 

 deserving attention in this surprising trans- 

 action ; in size and appearance it differs 

 little from the egg of the Skylark and Tit- 

 lark, though the disparity of the bulk of the 



