THE CUCKOO. 255 



shells of game birds' eggs : their inroads, therefore, if at 

 all, are confined to the eggs of the smaller birds. Never- 

 theless, the Cuckoo has a relentless enemy in the game- 

 keeper, who never fails to strike him down at every 

 opportunity. He is too much like a Hawk for Velve- 

 teens ; besides, he has a vague idea that every Cuckoo 

 killed in the summer means a Hawk the less in winter ! 

 The young Cuckoos in their first plumage differ vastly 

 from their parents, being very similar in markings to the 

 female Kestrel. 



The flight of the Cuckoo is a buoyant easy one, 

 straight and unwavering, and graceful in the extreme. 

 When flying, adult Cuckoos have a very accipitrine 

 appearance: with their long tail and wings and rapid 

 flight, they bear a strong resemblance, to a casual eye, 

 to the far-famed Sparrowhawk, especially when the 

 beautiful slate-coloured upper parts glisten in the 

 sunlight, and display themselves in lovely contrast to 

 the vernal greens of the hawthorn, as the bird glides 

 rapidly up a hedgerow side. This resemblance to the 

 birds of prey is doubtless a protection to the weak and 

 defenceless Cuckoo from these pirates of the air. 

 Cuckoos are often accompanied by various small birds, 

 notably the Willow Warbler and Chaffinch ; but for what 

 purpose I am at a loss to say, unless it be for the pur- 

 pose of mobbing him, much as the little birds are wont 

 to do Crows and other predaceous birds, his hawk-like 

 appearance attracting them. 



The Cuckoo is one of the last birds to make his 

 appearance here in the spring, and probably the first to 

 leave us in the early autumn. We miss his mellow 

 notes in hay harvest, and there is a saying here that the 

 sight of the haycocks drives him away. I am of opinion 

 the aduit birds leave before the young ones. Certain it 



