ON MIMICRY AND DECEPTION 



what they are not, and as the instances above mentioned 

 tend to show that they possess so great a power of as- 

 similating, it is well worthy of our most careful considera- 

 tion and investigation, in order to determine and ascertain 

 if the possibility exists of elucidating this remarkable 

 phenomenon. 



CUCKOO. 



The statement in the Times of December 11, 1888, that 

 a cuckoo was heard but not seen, reminded me that a few 

 years before a country boy employed in the Gardens 

 amused himself by climbing one of the large trees, where 

 he was completely concealed, and he so closely imitated the 

 voice of the cuckoo, that I, as well as many of the visitors, 

 was for some time most perfectly deceived. This was at 

 the time of the year when the cuckoo is usually in full 

 song. I have no doubt that if my young friend were in 

 the country in the depth of the winter, and were to exert 

 his vocal organs in imitation of the well-known bird, we 

 should have more letters corroborating the letter in the 

 Times to which I have referred. 



A very remarkable occurrence once happened in the 

 Gardens. A young cuckoo taken at Oxford was presented 

 to the Society. To my great astonishment I found that 

 a pair of hedge-sparrows had taken upon themselves the 

 task of feeding this greedy young bird, whose open mouth 

 and craving voice and insatiable appetite so completely occu- 

 pied these two little birds that they entirely neglected their 

 own nest and young to satisfy the wants of the stranger. I 

 can only account for it by supposing that the hedge-sparrows 

 and other insectivorous birds are imposed upon by the dis- 

 tressing note and the expression of hunger exhibited by the 

 young cuckoo's gaping mouth. If there is such a thing as 

 fascination I think this a very good instance of it. 



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