The Cuckoo. 49 



leave ns. It is not limited to any particular style of country, bciii;^ met with 

 equally in moorland or forest, arable land or fruit-garden. (Jn tlic wing it is 

 powerful, its flight being usually direct, l)iit occasionally with a wild swerving 

 character which reminds one of a frightened Pigeon. Where trees are numerou.s 

 I believe that this bird prefers to alight on tliem, and never descends to the 

 ground unless from necessity ; its somewhat sliort legs and the character of its 

 toes make its progression upon the earth both awkward and ludicrous, sometimes 

 resembling the clumsy waddle of a PaiTot, but frequently consisting of a series of 

 jumps. The note of the Cuckoo is often ivhoo-coo, the c sound even in the latter 

 half of its nate being very imperfectly defined ; but some males also sound the 

 initial c — coock-00 : I have heard both notes equally common]}', and I believe that 

 they are peculiar to individual birds. Frequently in the spring, and especially 

 when it has been chasing a female, I have heard the cry wlioo-cooclcoo. The female 

 has a different note again, a kind of rattling guttural coo, which has been some- 

 what aptly likened to the sound of bubbling water, wliilst the young bird when 

 calling for food has a harsh aggressive chirp. 



The favourite food of the Cuckoo consists of hairj' caterpillars, those of the 

 Buff-tip moth, which are eaten by few other birds, being probabh- kept in check 

 principally by this species ; but many insects and their larvae are eaten by it, and 

 doubtless spiders. 



As regards the nidification of the Cuckoo, its parasitic habit of placing its 

 eggs in the nests of other birds has always been a subject of the greatest interest 

 and has given rise to endless discussions amongst Naturalists. Many 5-ears ago 

 the fact that its eggs were frequently found in nests which it was impossible for 

 the bird to enter, or which were incapable of supporting its weight, aroused con- 

 siderable wonder, and long before the fact was finally proved b_v actual obser\'ation 

 it was conjectured that, like some of its foreign allies, the Cuckoo deposited its 

 eggs on the ground and carried them in its mouth to the selected nest. 



As early as 1851 Mr. J. A. Harper recorded in the "Zoologist" (p. 3145)* 

 the fact of his follomng a Cuckoo to a meadow, where he observed it wandering 

 about with some substance in its mouth ; after shooting it he discovered this 

 "substance" to be its &gg, and upon dissecting the bird he found that the cloaca 

 contained another &%% almost of the same size, but A\-ithout shell. Mr. Bidwell 

 eventually established the fact that this is the method adopted b}- our Cuckoo, 

 thus offering a complete explanation of the popular idea that this bird sucks eggs, 

 which owed its origin simply to the fact that, from time to time, the parent bird 

 had been shot in the act of carr3-ing its egg to a nest. 



* He had, liowever, beeu forestalled b>- JIacgillivray hi the third volume of his British Birds.— .\.G.B. 

 Vol. Ill I 



