114 THE COMMON CUCKOO. 



myself, though several of my acquaintances have. As it is fa 

 every respect a remarkable bird, and one which many amateurs 

 might willingly rear, I will subjoin the following communica- 

 tion on the subject from HEKE v. SCHATTKOTH : " The Cuckoo 

 has hardly any recommendation as a house bird. When old, 

 it is too stubborn and greedy ; and in general is either obsti- 

 nately fierce, or sits in sullen melancholy. I have reared some ; 

 the last I found in the nest of a Yellowhammer, who was very 

 puzzled with it. It was yet blind, and nevertheless flew at 

 me with great fury, when I took it out. On this account, I 

 know not how the stupidity of its foster-parents can be ex- 

 cused. I had hardly had it six days, before it ate, in a passion, 

 everything that was offered it; and I reared it on bird's flesh. 

 It was a long time before it learned to eat out of its trough ; 

 and it was so violent in its habits and quips, that it upset all 

 small vessels. The tail grew very slowly. It never became quite 

 tame ; it always darted at my face and hands, as well as at 

 everything that came too near it, and at other birds. It ate of 

 the first universal paste largely, and discharged as copiously, 

 and dirtied itself very much ; it also ate its own excrement. 

 It is exceedingly clumsy with its short climbing feet ; it cannot 

 walk at all, and at best can only be said to jump. It flies, how- 

 ever, very cleverly." 



ADDITIONAL. The name of this bird, and its curious cry, is 

 familiar to every one, and yet few in reality know much about 

 its habits, and not many have done more than catch just a glimpse 

 of its form, as it flitted from copse to copse, or along the hedge- 

 row, seeking its insect food, or a nest wherein to deposit its single 

 egg, the hatching of which, and the rearing of the young bird, it 

 leaves to a more attentive foster-parent. Whether the Cuckoo 

 ever does take a share in the performance of the parental duties, 

 has been, and still is, a disputed question ; ornithologists have 

 generally inclined to the negative side, but from some very posi- 

 tive assertions recently made by J. M'!NTOSH, in The Naturalist, 

 it would appear that they have yet much to learn on this subject. 

 He states, that with a pocket telescope, he distinctly saw the 

 female Cuckoo feeding its young in the nest of a Hedge Accentor, 

 constructed in a holly -bush about two feet from the ground. 

 WILLIAM KIDD also asserts that such a fact has been witnessed 

 by a friend of his, whose veracity he could not question ; the 

 foster-parent in this case being a Redbreast, which was assisted 

 in the work of procuring food for the young Cuckoo bv the real 

 parent. 



