cuckoo. 599 



section vi. 



Cuckoo. 

 CuquIus. Linn. 



The first appearance of cuckoos in Gloucestershire, the part of 

 England where these observations were made, is about the 17th 

 of April. The song of the male, which is well known, soon pro- 

 claims its arrival. The songs of the female, if the peculiar notes 

 of which it is composed may be so called, is widely different, and has 

 been so little attended to, that I believe few are acquainted with 

 it. I know not how to convey a proper idea of it by a comparison 

 with the notes of any other bird ; but the cry of the dab-chick 

 bears the nearest resemblance to it. 



Unlike the generality of birds, cuckoos do not pair. When a 

 female appears on the wing, she is often attended by two or three 

 males, who seem to be earnestly contending for her favours. 

 From the time of her appearance, till after the middle of summer, 

 nests of birds selected to receive her egg are to be found in great 

 abundance ; but like the other migrating birds, she does not begin 

 to lay till some weeks after her arrival. I never could procure an 

 egg till the middle of May, though probably an early. coming cuc- 

 koo may produce one sooner*. 



The cuckoo makes choice of the nests of a great variety of 

 small birds. I have known its egg entrusted to the care of the 

 hedge-sparrow, the water. wagtail, the titlark, the yellow-hammer, 

 the green-linnet, and the winchat. Among these it generally se- 

 lects the three former ; but shews a much greater partiality to the 

 hedge-sparrow than to any of the rest : therefore, for the purpose 

 of avoiding confusion, this bird only, in the following account, 

 will be considered as the foster-parent of the cuckoo, except in 

 instances which are particularly specified. 



The hedge-sparrow commonly takes up four or five days in lay- 

 ing her eggs. During this time, generally after .she has laid one or 

 two, the cuckoo contrives to deposit her egg among the rest, leav- 



* What is meant by an early-coming cuckoo, I shall more fully explain in 

 a paper on the migration of birds , but it may be necessary to mention here, 

 that migrating birds of the same species arrive and depart in succession. Cuc- 

 koos, for example, appear in greater numbers on the 2d than on the 1st week 

 of their arrival, and they disappear in the same gradual manner. Orig. 



2q4 



