CUCKOO. 103 



diligently and punctually, by bringing food at very short 

 intervals from morning till evening, till its uncouth foster- 

 child grew large, and became full-feathered, when it was suffered 

 to escape, and was seen no more. It may possibly be sug- 

 gested that a mistake has been made with regard to the 

 sort of bird which hatched the Cuckoo, and the same bird 

 which fed it, namely, the Hedge-Sparrow, hatched the egg. 

 If this had been the case, there would have been nothing 

 extraordinary in the circumstance; but the Wagtail was too 

 often seen on her nest, both before the egg was hatched, and 

 afterwards, feeding the young bird, to leave room for any 

 scepticism on that point; and the Sparrow was seen feeding 

 it in the cage afterwards by many members of the family 

 daily.' 



In 'The Naturalist,' old series, No. 16, page 7, Mr. W. H. 

 Benshed relates an instance of two Wagtails feeding a young 

 Cuckoo, which had been taken from their nest; and on its 

 being placed in a hive, where they could visit it, 'delight 

 and joy really appeared in all their actions. They rushed 

 to and fro in the air, flying about the hive, and hovering 

 near it.' At the same time, on seeing the Cuckoo, Swallows 

 gave their note of alarm, and their young flew off; a Wren 

 approached, and shewed some signs of curiosity; and a Robin, 

 who seemed disposed for hostilities, was attacked and driven 

 off by the Wagtails. 



Again, 'It is wonderful,' says Dr. Jenner, 'to see the 

 extraordinary exertions of the young Cuckoo, when it is two 

 or three days old, if a bird be put into the nest with it 

 that is too weighty for it to lift out. In this state it 

 seems ever restless and uneasy. But this disposition for 

 turning out its companions begins to decline from the 

 time it is two or three, till it is about twelve days old, 

 when, as far as I have hitherto seen, it ceases. Indeed, the 

 disposition for throwing out the egg appears to cease a few 

 days sooner; for I have frequently seen the young Cuckoo, 

 after it had been hatched nine or ten days, remove a nestling 

 that had been placed in the nest with it, when it suffered 

 an egg, put there at the same time, to remain unmolested. 

 The singularity of its shape is well adapted to these purposes; 

 for, different from other newly-hatched birds, its back, from 

 the shoulders downwards, is very broad, with a considerable 

 depression in the middle. This depression seems formed by 

 nature for the design of giving a more secure lodgment to 



