32



Dr. E. Hopkinson.



good to say of it, while he quotes an account by another amateur,

who damns his subject pretty thoroughly and is worth requoting


here. This early bird-keeping Hun, whose name was “ Herr von


Schauroth,” says of his feathered Huns :


“ The Cuckoo has hardly any recommendation as a house-

“ bird. When old it is too stubborn and greedy ; and in general

“ is either obstinately fierce, or sits in sullen melancholy. I have

“ reared some : the last I found in the nest of a Yellow-hammer,

“ who was very puzzled with it. It was yet blind, and never-

“ theless flew at me with great fury, when I took it out.


“ I had hardly had it six days, before it ate in a passion every-

“ thing that was offered it; and I reared it on bird’s flesh. It


“ was a long time before it learnt to eat out of its trough ; and it


“ was so violent in its habits and quips, that it upset all small

“ vessels. The tail grew very slowly. It never became quite

“ tame ; it always darted at my face and hands, as well as at

“ everything that came too near it, and at other birds. It ate of

“ the first universal paste largely, and discharged as copiously-

“ and dirtied itself very much ; it also ate its own excrement.

“ It is exceedingly clumsy with its short climbing feet ; it cannot

“ walk at all, and at best can only be said to jump. It flies,

“ however, very cleverly.”


Since Bechstein’s time there have been numerous records of

Cuckoos in confinement. Of these I select Dr, Bradburn’s,* at

whose hands the wretched bird fares but little better than it did in

the previous quotation. He writes :


“ I have hand-reared this migratory bird, and for its size

“ I can unhesitatingly pronounce it the most filthy and disgust-

“ ing that was ever placed in a cage. It is in nowise to be

“ recommended as a cage-bird to fanciers, for if you possessed

“ one full-grown, it would not feed, and if you rear it by hand

“ you will spend a deal of trouble for no adequate return, as they

“ seldom live long in confinement. These birds require to be

“ fed very much longer than nestlings of other species, and they



* ‘British Birds,’ Dr. J. Denham Bradburn. First edition, 1891. The

quotation is from the third edition, revised and enlarged by Allen Silver,

1903 (p. 24).



