THE CUCKOO. 225 



tionably the most curious bird that visits the island, must 

 remain imperfect and mysterious ; as such, we shall not enter 

 farther upon it. Conjectures, in any quantity, may be had 

 in the books.* 



* The habit of depositing its eggs in the nests of other birds is not 

 peculiar to the European cuckoo, but to other species also, as the gilded 

 cuckoo of Caffraria; nor is this habit confined to the true cuckoos, it is 

 that also of the cow-troopial (Molothrus pecoris) of North America, one 

 of the starling family. This bird makes no nest, but deposits her eggs in 

 the nests of other species. 



The stomach of the cuckoo has been often observed to be densely 

 coated internally with hairs, which are borrowed, as microscopic exami- 

 nation proves, from the larvse of the tiger-moth, Aratia caja. M. 



VOL. I. 



