WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 



187 



the young Cuckoos were arrayed 

 in all the glory of real plumage. 

 The next day the three left the 

 nest and I was unable to find 

 them again. 



During this period of brood- 

 ing and caring for the young 

 the adult Cuckoos, though at 

 first suspicious, became some- 

 what reconciled to my visits ; 

 at any rate, they neither moved 

 the eggs — as cuckoos 

 have been thought to 

 do when d i s t u rb e d — H& 

 nor deserted them. At ^ 

 my approach the mother 

 would ruffle her feathers 

 until the usually sleek, slen- 

 der bird seemed to be bris- 

 tling with rage, her head 

 extended on a level with 

 her body and her long tail 

 slightly elevated. But ^ 

 though her eye followed me with 

 unwinking intensity, she would 

 not desert her post, nor did I 

 ever force her to do so. 



The clear '■' kow-kow-kow " of r,'^- 



the father-bird could te heard 387 a. California Cuckoo, 

 far into the night, if the moon ,,;;2'„Xp£fSi^'"" 



