PERCHING BIRDS. 229 



it requires. A young cuckoo was taken from the 

 nest, and put in a cage with a young thrush, which 

 could feed itself. In a short time the latter was 

 observed to undertake the task of feeding its com- 

 panion, and it continued to do so with the most 

 assiduous attention, and every mark of affection, 

 seeming always ready to drop food into the vora- 

 cious throat of the young monster. The common 

 wagtail, the hedge-sparrow, and the titlark, have 

 been repeatedly seen following young cuckoos, 

 and feeding them, in the months of June and 

 July in successive summers. 



It has been supposed by some, that the small 

 birds follow the cuckoo in the way they do, for 

 the sake of anno} 7 ance, as they will a sparrow- 

 hawk. But their behaviour is wholly different 

 in the two cases. The attendance on the cuckoo 

 is at a distance, silent and respectful ; whereas, in 

 the other instance, there is a hue and cry raised, 

 which annoys and discomfits the culprit. " The 

 lesser birds are mightily taken up with a cuckoo,' 5 

 was the remark of an old bird-stuffer; and his 

 accuracy of observation in this, as in other points, 

 is borne out by facts, for which, however, no one 

 is able to account. This strange irregularity is 

 doubtless ordained by the Creator for a wise pur 

 pose ; and we may safely conclude that the exemp- 

 tion of the cuckoo from what are the severest 



