THE COMMON CUCKOO. BIRDS. THE BKOXZE CUCKOO. 



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, of an egg so enormous as to be positively inconvenient. 

 Thjs is of some consequence, as the birds whose nests 

 are selected by the Cuckoo for the reception of its 

 eggs are all much less than itself. They are tolerably 

 numerous, but the favourite species in this country 

 seem to be the hedge-sparrow, the pied wagtail, and the 

 meadow pipit. 



The Cuckoo's egg is hatched in a shorter period than 

 . those of its foster parent, and thus the young Cuckoo 

 commonly makes its appearance before many of the 

 eggs of the latter are hatched. Its first business, after 

 coming into the world, is to get rid as speedily as 

 possible of all its companions, whether hatched or not, 

 in order to secure to itself the exclusive attention of its 

 foster parents, for as it has to grow rapidly to maturity, 

 it requires to be supplied with a much larger quantity 

 of food than would fall to its share if the insects and 

 worms collected by the old birds had to be divided 

 amongst a nestful of hungry claimants. With this 

 exceedingly selfish object in view, the young Cuckoo 

 begins operations by gently insinuating his rump under 

 the body of one of the young birds, which he then, with 

 the assistance of his wings, contrives to hoist upon his 

 back, which is provided with a peculiar depression for the 

 .express purpose of enabling the unfortunate little victim 

 to ride there in safety. With his load properly poised, 

 the young Cuckoo goes backwards until he reaches the 

 edge of the nest, when, with a sudden jerk, he throws 

 it off to perish. The other young birds soon follow, 

 and he then betakes himself to the unhatched eggs, 

 which are disposed of in the same way. The instinct 

 of getting rid of young birds in this way is found to last 

 in the young Cuckoo for several days after he is hatched, 

 but, singularly enough, he will allow an egg to remain 

 if put into the nest when he is nine or ten days old. 

 The young Cuckoo, left by this means the sole possessor 

 of the nest, thrives rapidly upon the abundant nourish- 

 ment, the enjoyment of which he has secured to him- 

 self, and in the course of about three weeks he is able 

 to leave the nest, although he still makes constant 

 demands upon his foster parents ; and, indeed, there is 

 reason to believe that the cry of the young Cuckoo will 

 induce almost any bird in his neighbourhood to bring 

 him food. This applies also to the other parasitic 

 species of this family, and to the equally parasitic 

 cowpen-bird of the United States. Young thrushes, 

 only just able to take care of themselves, have been 

 known, in captivity, to bring food to young cuckoos, 

 and the late Bishop of Norwich mentions an instance 

 in which a cuckoo administered a most severe punish- 

 ment to a young thrush who ventured to devour a 

 worm, instead of dutifully carrying it up to his greedy 

 companion. The young Cuckoos do not leave this 

 country till September, although the old birds, as 

 already stated, depart at the end of July or beginning 

 of August; young birds have even been known to 

 remain in Cornwall till October. 



THE AUSTRALIAN CUCKOO (Cuculus optatus}. 

 This bird is so similar to our European species, that at 

 first sight it might be regarded as the same bird. It 

 differs, however, in some minor particulars, such as 

 the greater breadth and distinctness of the black bands 

 on the breast, the light fawn-colour of the abdomen, 

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and the smaller size of the claws. It has only been 

 met with in the northern parts of Australia, and 

 nothing is known of its habits. 



THE UNADORNED CUCKOO (Cuculus inornatus), the 

 common species in Southern Australia, is a summer 

 visitor to Van Diemen's Land, and also appears to be 

 partially migratory on the continent of Australia. It 

 is about the same size as the preceding species, and of 

 a brownish-gray colour, darker, and tinged with olive 

 on the upper surface ; the feathers of the long tail are 

 marked with triangular spots of white along their 

 margins. The call of this species is very different 

 from that of our common Cuckoo, being a ringing 

 whistle, forming a succession of running notes, of which 

 the last and highest are several times repeated. Its 

 food consists chiefly of caterpillars, beetles, and Phas- 

 midse, in pursuit of which amongst the branches it 

 displays great agility. Like the European Cuckoo, 

 this bird is parasitic in its habits, depositing its eggs in 

 the nests of numerous species of small birds, and the 

 young Cuckoo, after leaving the nest, may be seen 

 sitting on the branch of a tree and receiving supplies of 

 food from other birds, sometimes belonging to more 

 than one species. 



THE BRONZE CUCKOO (Chrysococcyx lucidus) appears 

 to be the most widely dispersed of the Australian 

 Cuckoos, being met with in all parts of the continent 

 of Australia, and also in Van Diemen's Land. It is a 

 small species, measuring only five inches and a half in 

 length, but the tail is much shorter than in the ordinary 

 Cuckoos. The male has the whole upper surface of a 

 rich bronze colour, with the wing primaries brown, and 

 the lower surface white, with numerous transverse 

 bronzed stripes interrupted in the middle ; in the 

 female the bronzed tint of the upper surface is a mere 

 wash upon the brown, and the transverse bars of the 

 lower surface are faint, and of a brown colour. 



This bird is a summer visitor to Van Diemen's Land, 

 and partially migratory in New South Wales. It feeds 

 upon insects of various kinds, and its note is described 

 by Mr. Gould as a mournful whistle. Like the preced- 

 ing it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, usually 

 selecting a domed nest with a very small entrance. 



THE INDIAN BLACK CUCKOO (Eudynamys orientalts"), 

 an inhabitant of India and the eastern parts of Asia, 

 ncludiug its islands, is about twelve inches in length, 

 and of a black colour, with a rich blue gloss on the 

 upper surface. It is found about trees, and is a noisy 

 bird, constantly uttering a loud note, compared to the 

 syllables koyo. The food of this species consists cf 

 fruits, and it deposits its eggs in the nests of the Indian 

 crows (Corvus splendens and C. culminans). 



FLINDERS' CUCKOO (Eudynamys Flindenu), an 

 inhabitant of the eastern and northern parts of Aus- 

 ralia, is about fourteen inches in length, of which the 

 ,mple tail makes up nearly half. The male is entirely 

 of a deep glossy greenish-black, with the irides red, 

 .nd the bill yellowish-olive ; the female is brown above, 

 with numerous buff or whitish spots and bars, and buffy- 

 white below, spotted and barred with blackish-brown. 

 The top of the head, and a streak running from the 

 base of the bill along each cheek, are greenish-black. 

 The habits of this bird are unknown. 



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