A Cuckoo comes to the House. 139 



now in the cow^ards among the cattle, now in the 

 rickyard, and even close to the door of the dwelling- 

 house, especially frequenting the courtyard in front 

 of the dairy. As he flies he rises up and then sinks 

 again, in a succession of undulations, now spreading 

 the tail out and now closing it. On the ground he 

 generally ahghts near water ; he is continually' jerking 

 the tail up and down. 



One spring a cuckoo came to this nest in the iv}' 

 close to the casement ; she was seen flj'ing near the 

 house several times, and, being observed to visit the 

 iv3'-covered gable, was finally traced to the wagtail's 

 nest. For several days in succession, and several 

 times a day, the cuckoo came, and would doubtless 

 have left an egg had not she been shot by a person 

 who wanted a cuckoo to stuff. 



It 'is difficult to understand upon what principle 

 the cuckoo selected a nest thus placed. The ordi- 

 nary considerations put forward as guiding birds and 

 animals in their actions quite fail. Instinct would 

 scarcely- choose a spot so close to a house — actually 

 on it ; the desire of safety would not lead to it either, 

 nor the idea of concealment. She might, no doubt, 

 have found nests enough at a distance from houses, 

 and much more likely to escape observation. Was 

 there any kind of feeling that this particular wagtail was 

 more likely to take care of the oftspringthan others? 



I doubt the cuckoo's alleged total indifterence to 

 her young. The^' certainly linger in the neighbor- 

 hood of the nests which they have selected to deposit 

 their eggs in. On another occasion a cuckoo used a 

 wagtail's nest in a difterent part of the garden here 

 — in some ivy that had grown round the decaying 



