68 WOODLANDERS AND FIELD FOLK 



is equally true that in July it prepares to fly, and 

 leaves in August. 



Not the least interesting facts in the bird's economy 

 are those which refer to its young. It is now abun- 

 dantly proved by independent witnesses that the 

 young cuckoo shoulders the rest of the fledglings out 

 of the nest, and that it does this before it is many 

 days old. Numerous observers have found young 

 pipits and larks dead, which only a few hours before 

 were safe, and the process of ejectment has been 

 minutely described. Although the newly-hatched 

 usurper can hardly hold up its head it incessantly 

 strives to get beneath the nestlings, and ultimately 

 tilts them overboard. This is probably a provision 

 for the sustenance of the bird, as it is certainly capable 

 of devouring the food of four or five smaller ones. 

 The egg, too, is, comparatively, smaller than that of 

 any other British bird a necessity when the size 

 of the future foster-mother is taken into account. 

 Although the once popular notion that the young 

 cuckoo ultimately devoured its tiny parents is but a 

 myth, it is easy to understand how it originated. 

 To see a hedge-sparrow thrust its head into the great 

 yellow gape of a half-fledged cuckoo is more than 

 sufficient to account for the superstition. 



