CUCKOOS. 



171 



fixed home. At the "breeding- time they wander from one district 

 to another, reside two or three days with a male at one place, 

 and then abandon him, according to inclination. It is at this time 

 that the males so frequently utter the cry known to all the world, 

 and from which the bird derives its name ; it is a sort of call or 

 challenge to the females, which in their turn reply by a peculiar 

 clucking. Cuckoos lay eight or ten eggs in the space of a few 

 weeks. When an egg has been laid, the female seizes it in her beak, 

 and carries it to the first unoccupied nest in the vicinity, and there 

 deposits it, profiting by the absence of the proprietor, which would 





Fig. 192. Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus, Linn.). 



certainly oppose such an addition. A Redthroat has been seen to 

 return unexpectedly, and force the stranger to retire -with her 

 burden. The next egg is placed in a neighbouring nest, but never 

 in the same as the first. The mother is doubtlessly conscious of 

 the unfortunate position it would place her two nurslings in if she 

 acted otherwise, for it would certainly be impossible for two 

 little Passerines to supply the wants of two such voracious beings 

 as young Cuckoos. Pertinent to this, we will mention a fact 

 that we have not seen stated in any work on natural history. It 

 often happens that the female Cuckoo takes from the nest one of 

 the eggs of the Passerine, breaks it with her beak, and scatters the 



