104 MY NATURE NOTEBOOK. 



afterwards select a point which he will pass, where 

 you can see and hear him at close quarters. As a 

 rule, except when accompanying a female when 

 he seems to shout for sheer joy the cuckoo is silent 

 as he flies, calling only from certain points of van- 

 tage on his round ; but any small bird which attacks 

 him " between trees " will make him call and chatter 

 loudly. Indeed, at such times one cannot help think- 

 ing that the cuckoo raises his peculiar voice in order 

 to disabuse the mind of his pursuer of the notion that 

 he is a hawk. Not that the vociferous explanation 

 always suffices to this end ; for you may see a 

 swallow or martin swoop upon him time after time, 

 eliciting a loud " Cuckoo-cuckoo, chak-chak-chak- 

 chak," at every swoop. 



No HAWK, THOUGH HAWK-LIKE. 



But as a rule small birds take no notice of a 

 calling cuckoo ; and his curious voice may thus be 

 the reflex of his curious habits, and these, in turn, 

 may be the result of his appearance, which, again, is 

 the consequence of the dangers to which his ancestors 

 were exposed. As large birds of feeble flight, they 

 found safety from hawks in putting on the semblance 

 of hawks ; this, in turn, exposed them to the perse- 

 cutions of small birds, which drove them to wander- 

 ing habits ; while, in default of a home as rendezvous, 

 the bird gradually acquired a loud and distinctive cry 

 to summon the female to him when she should feel 

 so disposed and also to let small bird-dom in general 

 know that, although he might look like a hawk, he 

 was nothing of the kind. 



