Class II. CUCKOO. S09 



pressure of that in a sitting posture, prevent in- 

 cubation ?* 



This bird has been ridiculously believed to 

 change into a hawk, and to devour its nurse on 

 quitting the nest, whence the French proverb 

 ingrat comme un coucou. But it is not carnivo- 

 rous, feeding only on worms and insects : it 

 grows very fat, and is said to be as good eating 

 as a land rail. The French and Italians eat 

 them to this day. The Romans admired them 

 greatly as a food ; Pliny\ says, that there is no 

 bird to compare with them for delicacy. 



* Doctor Jenner in his valuable observations on the Cuckoo, 

 published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1788, controverts 

 this opinion, and attributes its not performing the office of incu- 

 bation, to the short residence it is allowed to make in the coun- 

 try, where it is destined to propagate its species. He ex- 

 plains most satisfactorily, the wonderful manner in which the 

 young cuckoo dislodges its rightful owners from the nest. This 

 is effected within a day or two after it is hatched, when the 

 young bird will crawl backwards with the assistance of its 

 wings, up the side of the nest with a young hedge-sparrow, or 

 an egg, if one remains unhatched, on its back, and getting 

 quite to the edge throw it over, then tumble again into the nest, 

 and after a little time renew its efforts till every young bird and 

 egg has met with the same fate. The whole of Doctor Jenner s 

 remarks on this subject are extremely worthy of perusal ; and we 

 have to regret, that he who has benefited his fellow creatures 

 in the most eminent degree by the introduction of vaccina- 

 tion, has not had the leisure to extend his inquiries farther 

 into the natural history of his country. Ed. 



t Lih. X. c. 9. 



