BOOK X. XI. 25-27 



XI. The cuckoo seems to be made by changing its The mekoo 

 shape out of a hawk " at a certain season of the year, '^hawki 

 as the rest of the hawks do not appear then, except itsnestino 

 on a very few days, and the cuckoo itself also after 

 being seen for a moderate period of the summer is 

 not observed afterwards. But the cuckoo is alone 

 among the hawks in not having crooked talons, and 

 also it is not Hke the other hawks in the head or in 

 anything else but colour : it rather has the general 

 appearance of the pigeon. Moreover a hawk will 

 eat a cuckoo, if ever both have appeared at the same 

 time : the cuckoo is the only one of all the birds that 

 is killed by its own kind. And it also changes its 

 voice. It comes out in the spring and goes into 

 hiding * at the rising of the dog-star, between which 

 dates it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, 

 usually <^ wood-pigeons, for the most part one egg at a 

 time, as does no other bird ; it seldom lays two. Its 

 reason for foisting its chicks on other birds is supposed 

 to be that it knows itself to be hated by the whole of 

 the birds, for even the very small birds attack it; 

 consequently it thinks that a progeny will not be 

 secured for its race unless it has escaped notice, for 

 vvhich reason it makes no nest ; it is a timid creature 

 in general. Therefore the brooding hen in the nest 

 thus cuckolded rears the changeUng. The young 

 cuckoo "^ being by nature greedy snatches the bits of 

 food away from the rest of the chicks, and so gets fat 

 and attracts the mother bird to itself by its sleek 

 appearance. She delights in its beauty and admires 

 herself for having borne such a child, while in 

 comparison with it she convicts lier own chicks of 

 not belonging to her, and lets them be eaten up 

 even imder her own eyes, until finally the cuckoo, 



voL. III. L 309 



