102 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



same extent that cuckoos do. They have always 

 seemed - to. me to be pretty indifferent, and the 

 canaille ^o keep at a wary distance, whereas I have 

 seen a. chaffinch plunge right down on the back of a 

 cuckoo, who ducked his head, and moved about on 

 the branch where he was sitting, in a manner, and 

 with a look, to excite pity, before flying off it, pur- 

 sued by his petty antagonist. But hawks even 

 kestrels may sit in trees for hours unmolested, 

 though the whole grove know of their presence 

 there. 



Whilst watching the cuckoos sporting in their 

 playground, and on other occasions, I have tried to 

 come to a conclusion as to whether the male only, 

 or both the sexes cuckoo. I have not, however, 

 been able to make up my mind, and to me the 

 point seems difficult to settle. (It has been settled, 

 I know, but I don't think that settles it.) The 

 sexes being indistinguishable in field observation, we 

 have to apply some test whereby we may know the 

 one from the other, before we can say which of the 

 two it is that cuckoos on any one occasion. But 

 what test can we apply, other than the bird's actions, 

 and until we know how these differ in the sexes, 

 how can we apply it ? For how long, too, as a 

 rule, can we watch any one bird, and when two or 

 more are together how can we keep them distinct ? 

 Some crucial acts, however, there are, which one 

 sex alone can perform, and if a man could spend a 

 week or two in watching, for a reasonable length of 

 time each day, cuckoos that in this way had declared 

 themselves to be females, he would then be able to 

 speak, on this point, with authority. One way, 



