A young Cuckoo stretching its wings. 



THE CUCKOO 



w 



HOLE volumes have been 

 written upon the history 

 and habits of this pecu- 

 liarly interesting visitor 

 to our shores, but, in spite 

 of this fact, many strange 

 problems relating to its 

 life and economy remain 

 still unsolved. 



Arriving in April, its welcome voice 

 is heard in nearly every quarter of the 

 British Isles throughout May and June. 

 By the middle of the latter month, how- 

 ever, its song has deteriorated in quality, 

 and the first note is frequently doubled 

 in a way that suggests stammering. The 

 bird frequently sings on the wing, and 

 may sometimes be heard " telling its 

 name to all the hills " throughout every 

 hour of the night. 



By the middle of July nearly all our 



adult Cuckoos have commenced to wing 

 their way to Africa, leaving their off- 

 spring to the care of foster-mothers, and 

 to take the hazard of an unguided 

 flight to the winter haunts of their 

 species. 



The Cuckoo, it is hardly necessary to 

 relate, does not build a nest, sit on its 

 eggs, or rear its own young. Like other 

 members of its family found in the Old 

 World, and birds in no way related to 

 it in America, it deposits an egg, which 

 is very small in comparison with the 

 layer, in some other bird's nest, and 

 leaves the dupe to hatch out and rear 

 its offspring. How this parasitic habit 

 originated no man knows, and all the 

 ingenious speculations that have been 

 formulated to account for it are to my 

 mind based upon insufficient evidence. 



Although female Cuckoos undoubtedly 



