232 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol vn. 



flights to distances of up to about a hundred yards, settling 

 on the top of some convenient bush and there " spreading 

 himseK out," jerking up and down, and " cuckoo-ing " for all 

 he was worth. The moment the hen made the shghtest 

 movement he flew straight back to her, to remain, however, 

 for a few seconds at most before hurr3dng away to make 

 further exhibition of himself and his song. For fully a 

 quarter of an hour these tactics were continued, some move- 

 ment of mine eventually putting the birds to flight. 



I observed that when at his mate's side the cock-bird 

 frequently gave vent to a sound which I can best Mken to the 

 first note of the Wood-Pigeon, the " take " of the familiar 

 " take two cows Taffy." Lewis R. W. Loyd. 



FOSTER-PARENTS OF CUCKOO. 



In reference to the notes on this subject {supra, p. 175), 

 perhaps the following may be of sufficient interest to warrant 

 its being placed upon record now, as it would seem to add 

 considerable weight to the doubts sometimes expressed, as 

 to whether the mere fact of a young Cuckoo being seen 

 to be fed by a certain bird, is sufficient evidence upon which 

 to assert that that bird is its foster -parent. This incident 

 took place near Ilkley, Yorkshire, on August 22nd, 1909, my 

 sister and I being the spectators, and 1 extract from what was 

 written at the time in my journal. " At the farm above 

 Tivoli (Middleton) we saw three young Cuckoos, all together, 

 flitting about and perching on walls, trees, rails, gates, 

 etc., often close together and sometimes very close to us. 

 They seemed naturally inclined to keep together and were 

 attended by (or at any rate associated with) a little flock of 

 Meadow-Pipits, six or eight maybe in number, several of 

 which fed the Cuckoos from time to time. This they seemed 

 to do quite promiscuously ; certainly the same Pipit fed 

 different Cuckoos, for this I saw distinctly ; and, though 

 it was not possible to keep a close watch on all, I am pretty 

 sure that two or three at least of the Pipits fed any one 

 of the Cuckoos which chanced to come near them. We 

 watched the birds for a long time, and during that time a 

 Robin was seen to feed one of the Cuckoos once, and several 

 Thrushes, which were about, seemed to take a very kindly 

 interest in them, and I believe, fed them more than once. 

 However, once at least, a Thrush was distinctly seen to feed 

 one of them with a large mouthful of what appeared to be 

 pieces of a large worm. The Cuckoos were well fledged, 

 all of, apparently, the same age, but their tails were not 

 quite fuU^rown, though all flew well and easily. We did 



II 



