224 



THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



at all, for his voice is said to " break ", and he sings no longer. 

 In August he takes flight across the sea, and leaves us until the 

 following spring. 



One of the strangest facts in the life of the cuckoo is, that it 



T 





Cuckoo 



does not make any nest, but always lays its eggs, one at a time, 

 in the nests of other birds. 



The nest of the hedge-sparrow is mostly chosen for this pur- 

 pose, where the &^g of the cuckoo is occasionally found among 

 its four or five pale-blue eggs. It also frequently deposits its 

 zgg in the lark's, the meadow pipit's, the water wagtail's, the 

 chaffinch's, and more rarely in the blackbird's nest. Naturalists 

 are still doubtful whether the cuckoo actually lays its egg (for it 

 seldom deposits more than one in any nest) in the other bird's 

 nest, or lays it on the ground first and then places it among the 

 other eggs with its beak or claws. Cuckoo's eggs have been found 



