220 JOTTINGS ABOUT BIRDS. 



bird. Now and again he starts from the trees by 

 the lane-side,, and flits across the fields in an un- 

 wavering course,, looking all wings and tail as he 

 flies along, and presently his clear rich notes are 

 uttered as he nears the trees and disappears within 

 their dense leafy crowns. It was but yesterday I 

 peeped into a Hedge Accentor's nest wherein the 

 curious tragedy of the Cuckoo's reproduction had 

 been successfully played. The nest was so situated 

 in a gorse-bush, that the hen Cuckoo had been 

 obliged to carry her egg in her mouth and drop 

 it in, choosing a time of course when the dupes 

 of owners happened to be away. In due course 

 the eggs were hatched two Hedge Accentors and 

 the young Cuckoo. A day or two after this event 

 the young Accentors mysteriously vanished, and 

 the nest remained in the sole possession of the 

 young Cuckoo. Already the bird is too big for 

 the tiny nest, and both the silly Hedge Accentors 

 are toiling from dawn to dark to feed the youngster, 

 whose appetite daily grows more voracious. Soon 

 the young Cuckoo, still unable to fly, will sit 

 outside the nest to be fed by his foster-parents. 



But evening is now at hand ; already the Finches 

 and the Blackcaps have hushed their music and 

 sought a roosting-place. Still the Thrushes sing 



