64 WOODLANDERS AND FIELD FOLK 



seclusion of the woods, but it is neither solitary nor 

 unsocial. Just at dawn we have seen as many as 

 seventeen birds flying together, these all crying and 

 calling at the same time. It was once thought that 

 the cuckoo paired, but it is now known that the 

 species is polygamous. Those who know the bird 

 in its haunts hear two distinct cries in addition to 

 that which gives it its name. The more frequent 

 of these constitutes a love song, and may be re- 

 presented by a succession of the initial syllables, 

 cuck-cuck-cuck, dying away into a prolonged 

 oo-o-o-o. This cry is uttered when flying, and the 

 more deliberate and finished " cuck-oo " usually 

 comes from the bird when perched on some rail or 

 fence. As the meadows become covered with May 

 flowers the first call is more seldom heard, and then 

 the words resound only to the steady cry of "cuckoo," 

 " cuckoo." The number of hens that constitutes a 

 harem is not known, but from the number of bachelor 

 birds the males must greatly predominate over the 

 females. From dissection we are convinced that 

 each female lays a series of eggs, these occurring in 

 widely different stages of maturity. It is as to the 

 birds laying and nesting that comparatively little 

 is known ; in connection with this several interesting 

 questions arise. The older naturalists thought that 

 the female cuckoo actually laid its eggs in the nests of 

 other birds, and this may be so, but it is equally 



