loS 



CASSELLS BOOK OF BIRDS. 



do these birds arrive in the early spring than the males begin to make the woods resound with their 

 well-known call, where they are soon joined by their mates, of whose coyness under the circumstances 

 they can have little cause for complaint, and as soon as the female has an egg ready for laying, 

 away she flies in search of a nest in which to deposit her burden. On these expeditions she is not 

 accompanied by the male Cuckoo, with whose company, indeed, she seems by no means desirous 

 of being troubled. Her search after a suitable nest is always made on the wing, and her cleverness 

 in finding the object of her journey, however well it may seem to be hidden from observation, is at 

 least remarkable. Quite contrary to her usual shyness, at such times she will unhesitatingly approach 



THE CUCKOO (Ciiculiis canorus). 



quite close to human habitations, and even enter buildings, such as barns and outhouses. If the 

 shape and situation of the discovered nest is such as to allow her to do so, she places herself upon 

 it and lays an egg, but if such is not the case she lays her egg upon the ground, and then taking it in 

 her beak drops it into the nest. Sometimes it happens that she has considerable difficulty in 

 introducing her egg into the nest, owing to the smallness of the aperture, and occasionally the bird 

 has been captured during her endeavours to overcome the difficulty. Sometimes it has happened 

 that two Cuckoos' eggs, of different colours, have been found in the same nest. 



"It is wonderful to observe," says Bechstein, "what great apparent delight the birds show 

 when they see a female Cuckoo approach their abode. Instead of leaving their eggs, as they do when 

 disturbed by the approach of other animals, they seem quite beside themselves for joy. The little 

 Wren, for example, when brooding over its own eggs, immediately quits its nest on the approach of 



