THE CUCKOO. 223 



difficult to be in any part of the country without hearing the 

 cuckoo, and even seeing the bird, as it flies hurriedly, and to 

 all appearance heavily, from one tree to another, with gene- 

 rally a few of the smaller birds in its train. The cuckoo is 

 about the size of the kestrel, only more bulky in the feathers, 

 and about a fourth less in weight. The feathers of the belly 

 and thighs are very loose and pendant, and the tail is large. 

 The general colour is bluish grey, and the wings and tail 

 black, with some white bars on the exterior feathers. The 

 lower part is greyish white, with transverse black bars, and 

 the vent cream colour, with lighter bars of dusky. The feet 

 and toes are feeble ; and though the latter are yoked, the 

 outer toe is reversible, so that there are occasionally three to 

 the front and one behind. They are fit only for perching, 

 not for climbing, and not very well for walking. The bill 

 resembles that of the birds which live upon insects, but do 

 not catch them on the wing. The bird has something the air 

 of a hawk, but none of the powers, and it does not seem to 

 have much of the disposition. Its food is insects, and their 

 larvae, especially the larvae of caterpillars of the lepidoptera ; 

 and, as many of these are highly injurious to trees, it is 

 probable that the cuckoo is of great service, as it is with us 

 at the very seasons when, if not thinned, these caterpillars 

 would commit their depredations. It beats for its food in 

 the trees, and it is probable that its peculiar feet, its long 

 wings and great tail, and its soft plumage, enable it to hunt 

 among the leaves, especially on the under sides of them, in 

 places which the smaller insect-hunting birds cannot reach. 



Analogy leads to the conclusion, that the cuckoo is a most 

 ravenous feeder. We have the example of the owls as com- 

 pared with the other rapacious birds, to show that it requires 

 more nourishment to supply feathers than flesh ; and it 

 requires more labour from the foster-birds in whose nests 

 these are found to feed one young cuckoo, than other birds of 



