CrCULID.E — THE CUCKOOS. 479 



the bird. '\V liile the female is sitiiiijx, the male is usually not far distant, and 

 yives tiie alarm liy his nutes when any persim is aiipmaching. The female 

 sits so chise that you may almost reach her witii your liand, and tiien precipi- 

 tates herself to the ground, feigning lameness to draw you away from the spot, 

 fluttering, trailing her wings, and tnndjling over in tin. manner of the "Wood- 

 cock and other birds. Ijoth parents uniie in provi'ung food for the young. 

 This consists cliietiy of caterpillars, particularly such as infest apph'-trees. 



Mr. Auilubon speaks of this species as not abumhuit anywhere, tlierein 

 differing frou. ''•.'^'ilsou's statements, but more in accordance with my own ol)- 

 servations. They arc, as a species, pretty genei'ally distriliuted, liut at the 

 same tinu? their numbers are materially affected by the chai-icter of the 

 localay, as they are chiefly to lie met with on low groumls and in damp 

 places. Mr. Audubon also describes their nest as sinqjle and fiat, composed 

 of .1 i'ew dry sticks and grass, formed much like that of tlie Carolina Dove, 

 an(l like it fastened to a horizontal branch, often within reach. He sub.se- 

 quently states that when, in Charleston, S. C, in the early part of June, 1837, 

 he was invited by Mv. IJhett to visit his grounds in the vicinity fif tliat city, 

 for the purpose of viewing a nest of tliis bird. The following is his account 

 of it : " A nest, which was placed near the centre of a tree of moderate size, 

 was reached by a son of the gentleman on whose grounds we were. One of 

 the old Ijirds, which was sitting upon it, left its situation only when within 

 a few inches of the climber's hand, and silently glitied off to another tree 

 close l)y. Two young Cuckoos, nearly al)le to Hy, scrambled ofl' from their 

 tenement among the branches of tiie tree, and were caught. The nest was 

 taken, and carefully handeil t(j me. It still contained three young Cuckoos, 

 all of different sizes, the smallest ajiparently just iiatched, the ne.xt in size 

 probably several days old, while the largest, covered with pin-feathers, would 

 have been able to leave the nest in about a week. There were also in the 

 nest two eggs, one containing a chick, the other fresh or lately laid. The 

 two young birds which escaped from the nest clung no firndy to the branches 

 by their feet, that our attemjjts to dislodge them were of no avail, and we 

 were obliged to reach them with the hand. On looking at all these birds, 

 our surjirise was great, as no two of them were of the same size, wliich 

 clearly showed tiiat they had been hatched at different periods, and 1 should 

 suppose the largest to have been fully three weeks older than any of the 

 rest. Mr. IMiett assured us that he had oljserved the same in another nest, 

 placed in a tree witliiii a few paces of his house. He stated tluit eleven 

 young Cuckoos had been successively hatched and reared in it by the same 

 pair of old 1)irds in one season, and that young birds and eggs were to be 

 seen in it at the same time for many weeks in succession." 



]\Ir. Xuttall .states that the nest of this bird is usually forsaken by the owner 

 if the eggs are handled before the commencement of incubation. They aie 

 very tenacious and affectionate towards their young, and sit so close as al- 

 most to allow of being taken off by the hand. Tliey then fre(|uently precipi- 



