BIRDS. 159 



It was considered a reproach to one to have heard 

 the Cuckoo while hungry. The one feature in this 

 bird's character which is justly charged upon it as dis- 

 reputable, is that instead of building a nest and rear- 

 ing its young, the female lays her egg in the nest of 

 some other bird, and leaves to strangers all the labour 

 of hatching and bringing up its progeny. 



The "Fern Owl/' or "Goatsucker," flies in the 

 dusk round the borders of woods through the summer, 

 and catches insects in its flight. Heathy places, and 

 open downs, wherever insects most do congregate, 

 are attractive, but its method of hunting cannot be 

 pursued in a dense wood. This bird is also called 

 the " Night-jar," and the " Moth-hawk," so that it is 

 well furnished witL popular names. There is, un- 

 fortunately a prejudice against this bird amongst 

 gamekeepers, but without any reason ; it is difficult to 

 discover how such a prejudice originated, as its food 

 consists of insects, which it catches on the wing. The 

 name of" Goatsucker " is derived from the supposition 

 that it sucks the udders of cows and goats, but this is 

 entirely a vulgar error, as any one may become con- 

 vinced by a little patient observation. 



The Ring-dove, or Wood-Pigeon, is found in 

 all the wooded districts of England and Scotland, 

 where it prefers the highest trees. " No bird in the 

 British dominions/' writes Waterton, " seems to resort 

 to so many trees and shrubs for the purpose of in- 

 cubation as the Ring-dove. Not a tree, from the 

 towering pine to the lowly thorn, ever comes amiss to 

 it. There is something too peculiarly singular in the 

 locality of some of the nests. While one is seen 



