THE WILD MOTHER 227 



Such bird mothers, however, are not the rule. 

 The buzzard, the cuckoo, and the cowbird are 

 striking exceptions. The flicker will keep on lay- 

 ing eggs as fast as you take them from the nest 

 hole, until she has no more eggs to lay. The 

 quail, like the cuckoo, will sometimes desert her 

 nest if even an egg is so much as touched, but 

 only because she knows that her nest has been 

 discovered and must be started anew, in some 

 more hidden place, for safety. She is a wise and 

 devoted mother, keeping her brood with her as a 

 *' covey " all winter long. 



Gilbert White tells the following story of the 

 raven's mother-love : — 



" In the center of this grove there stood an 

 oak, which, though shapely and tall on the whole, 

 bulged out into a large excrescence about the 

 middle of the stem. On this a pair of ravens had 

 fixed their residence for such a series of years 

 that the oak was distinguished by the title of the 

 Raven Tree. Many were the attempts of the 

 neighboring youths to get at this eyry : the diffi- 

 culty whetted their inclinations, and each was 

 ambitious of surmounting the arduous task. But 

 when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out 



