BRITISH BIRDS. 271 



which was somewhat superior in size, turned out 

 the other, together with a young Hedge Sparrow, 

 and an unhatched egg. 



Young Cuckoos differ so much in plumage from 

 the old, that they have sometimes been mistaken 

 for a different species. In the young birds, the 

 bill, legs, and tail, are nearly the same as those of 

 the old; iris blue; throat, neck, breast, and belly, 

 elegantly barred with dark brown, on a light 

 ground; the back is lead grey, mixed with brown, 

 and faintly barred with white; the tail feathers 

 irregularly marked with black, light brown, and 

 white, and tipped with white ; legs yellow. They 

 continue three weeks in the nest before they fly, 

 and the foster parents feed them five weeks after 

 this period. Their growth is very rapid. They 

 migrate probably in succession, about the end of 

 August, or beginning of September, and undergo 

 their first moult during their absence. 



The Cuckoo is said to be a fierce pugnacious 

 bird. Its principal food consists of hairy cater- 

 pillars, also of grasshoppers, snails, May bugs, 

 c., of which it disgorges the hard parts after 

 digestion, in the same manner as birds of prey. 

 It also is said to eat the eggs of other birds. 



