HAWKS AND HAWK-LIKE BIRDS. 167 



CUCKOO.— P]ate 77. 13-14 inches. Upper parts 

 blue-gray, becoming dusky-brown on the wings and 

 blackish on the tail, the feathers of the latter spotted 

 centrally and tipped at the ends with white ; neck 

 and breast paler blue-gray ; under parts white, barred 

 across with black ; bill dark, long, pointed, not hooked ; 

 feet yellow. Summer migrant. 



Eggs. — Very variable, but mostly of a greenish or 

 reddish-gray ground, spotted and blotched with ashy- 

 brown, chiefly at the larger end, and placed singly 

 in the nests of other birds, principally those of the 

 Meadow-Pipit, Pied Wagtail, and Hedge-Sparrow, to 

 the eggs of which, with exception of the Hedge- 

 Sparrow's, they bear at times a general resemblance. 

 Average size, '85 ^ "75 inch, but variable (plate 127). 



Distribution. —General. 



The Cuckoo comes to us in April, and, wherever 

 it is, advertises its presence indefatigably by its 

 well-known cry. Small birds band together at once 

 to mob it as if it were a Hawk, which in its 

 general appearance it most remarkably resembles. 

 The large size, long tail, feathered legs and yellow 

 feet, the bluish cast of the plumage of the upper 

 parts, the white under parts barred with black, all 

 contribute to the illusion that here is a Hawk. In 

 its passage from one tree to another, its habit 

 of perching thereon for a considerable time, or 

 of traversing an open meadow with low, scouring 

 flight, putting up the small birds as it goes, it en- 

 hances by its actions the resemblance it bears in 

 appearance to the Hawks. Nearer inspection, how- 

 ever, reveals the smoother curves of the Cuckoo and 



