FURRED AND FEATHERED YOUNGSTERS. 31 



may have seen this, but I never have. It must be 

 borne in mind that I refer to cases when the crea- 

 ture and its home have never been touched by human 

 hands. No matter how clever the human bungler 

 may think he has been, the birds know he has been 

 there, and they act accordingly. Look at them and 

 pass on, as I did when I watched those young larks 

 walk into their nest again. 



Cuckoo ! cuckoo ! shouts the grey long-tailed bird 

 as he flies ; and those that hear and see him always 

 note him, for he is considered by country-folks to be 

 a bird of good or evil omen. 



To see a cuckoo before breakfast is by some con- 

 sidered a bad omen. Things, as they have it, will 

 then go crooked all through the day. But if the 

 bird is seen after breakfast, everything will be pro- 

 pitious. There is hardly any ending to cuckoo lore. 

 One fact is quite certain, — the bird is a good friend to 

 all those who cultivate the soil in any shape or way, 

 as caterpillars form the principal part of its food. 

 So partial is the bird to one hairy caterpillar, locally 

 called hairy oubit, and devil's ring, that the bird's 

 stomach is lined with hairs to a very remarkable 

 extent. 



