SCANSORES. CUCULID^E. 



those whose children it has thus ruthlessly mur- 

 dered. In this country the Hedge Sparrow, the 

 Pied Wagtail, the Pipit, and the Robin, are the 

 species most frequently chosen by the Cuckoo to 

 be the nurses of her offspring ; and it must be 



confessed, that, notwithstanding the destruction of 

 their own callow brood, the charge is responded 

 to with the utmost assiduity and tenderness. 



The periods of the Cuckoo's arrival and depar- 

 ture, and some other particulars in its calendar, 

 are recorded in the following rustic rhymes, pro- 

 bably of considerable antiquity, which we have 



