SPOILT CUCKOO CHILDREN 119 



The method of putting the beak and often a good 

 deal more, as we have seen, inside the parent's 

 mouth, is, however, not the usual one with nestlings 

 which are fed by the parents ; the more popular 

 method is for the young to gape and the parents 

 to place the food in their open beaks, whether they 

 disgorge it or bring it in morsels. This may be 

 seen in the case of Canaries, Sparrows, and small 

 birds generally, to say nothing of less familiar 

 creatures like Hawks, Owls, Kingfishers, Rollers, 

 etc. Nightjars grip the bill of their parent with 

 their own, and young Storks, judging from the 

 behaviour of specimens which are reared now and 

 then at the Zoo, expect the old birds to throw up 

 the food into the nest, when they pick it up and 

 swallow it a most insanitary-looking proceeding. 



Generally speaking, nestling birds have no idea 

 of picking anything up till they are nearly fledged, 

 sometimes not till after they can fly, and would 

 starve in the midst of plenty through not dreaming 

 of stooping to pick up their food. Cuckoos are 

 particularly slow in learning to pick up food, and 

 in nature seem to be thoroughly spoilt by their 

 foster-parents. They are especially ravenous, and 

 this applies to the non-parasitic " Crow- Pheasant " 

 of India, as well as to the parasitic species. 



Even among our few domesticated birds we are 

 well acquainted with two different types of young, 

 which may be conveniently called active and passive, 

 the " nidifugous " and " nidicolous " young of 

 ornithologists ; the latter, about which I have 



