194 Summer Studies of Birds Mid Books chap. 



from its likeness to the Cuckoo, it is true enough 

 that it is a migrant to the south in eastern Europe 

 during the autumn. The hawk, he says also, has 

 hooked claws, which the Cuckoo has not ; nor is the 

 head like that of the hawk, but both feet and head 

 are rather more like those of a pigeon. And he 

 further notes another point which is fairly true, that 

 the colour of the Cuckoo is rather of a spotty than a 

 stripy character.^ Of course he is acquainted with 

 the Cuckoo's peculiarity in laying her eggs, and the 

 following is the answer to the question as to what 

 becomes of the eggs or young of the unlucky bird in 

 whose nest she has chosen to lay hers : — " Some say 

 that when the young Cuckoo grows it ejects the 

 other young birds, which then perish ; others say 

 that the foster-mother kUls them and feeds the 

 young Cuckoo with them, for the beauty of the 

 young Cuckoo makes her despise her own offspring. 

 People say that they have been eye-witnesses of these 

 things. Others say that the old Cuckoo comes and 

 devours the young ; others that the young Cuckoo 

 is so big that it eats up all the food which was 

 meant for the rest " ; and lastly he comes back to 

 the first explanation he gave, which is indeed the 

 right one, that the young Cuckoo in some way gets 



^ ff. A. vi. 7. 2. Such must be the meaning of the words 

 Tou ^1^ UpaKos TO, TroLKi\a oIop ypa/j.fiai elffi, toO 5^ KdKKvyos otoy 

 (TTtyfiai. 



