26 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



country, is now an admitted fact, and the constant following 

 of the female bird by several of the opposite sex, not only 

 allows of no opportunity for pairing for life, but takes away 

 every possibility of her having time to build a nest. That the 

 Cuckoo is polyandrous seems to be equally certain, and the 

 note of the female is also different from that of the male, 

 which is the bird which utters the well-known " Cuckoo " call. 

 The female's, on the other hand, is a ''whittling" or "water- 

 burbling " cry, unlike that of any other British bird, and, when 

 uttered, is quite sufficient to set all the male Cuckoos calling for 

 some distance round. The flight of the Cuckoo is very similar 

 to that of a Hawk, and the appearance of one on the wing 

 is the signal for its being mobbed by Swallows, Martins, and 

 other small birds, just as if it were really a Bird of Prey. 

 Whether the smaller species really mistake it for a Hawk, 

 or really recognise it as a common enemy which brings disas- 

 ter at times on their progeny, one can hardly say, but that its 

 Accipitrine character is useful to the Cuckoo can hardly be 

 doubted, as will be seen from the narrative which Mrs. Fraser 

 has given of a singular occurrence which came under her 

 notice. 



This lady had found a Stonechat's nest, and was engaged 

 in painting a picture in its vicinity, when she saw a female 

 Cuckoo fly down to the ground with an egg in its bill. At the 

 same moment the male Cuckoo swooped down near the Stone- 

 chats, when the foolish little birds at once flew to attack it and 

 drive it from their nest, and pursued it for some distance, 

 during which interval the female Cuckoo quietly approached 

 the nest and dropped her egg into the latter. She then uttered 

 her peculiar call, and was immediately joined by the male, and 

 both birds flew off together in triumph. 



The Cuckoo, having laid her egg, carries it about in her bill 

 and places it in the nest which she selects as a suitable one for 

 the well-being of her youngster when it is hatched. To the 

 fact that Cuckoos have been shot with an egg in their mouth is 

 no doubt due the myth that the bird devours eggs, no one 

 having, apparently, surmised that the egg which the bird was 

 carrying might be its own I Having deposited the egg, it is 

 generally supposed that the old female takes no further interest 

 in its offspring, and certainly it would appear that, by their 



