278 



THE UNIVERSE. 



saw a young cuckoo, with indefatigable perseverance, for 

 four whole days continue to expel a newly hatched swal- 

 low, Avhich he took care to rej^lace each time beside it. 



Now as the brood of each ^vi^en contains ten eggs, it 

 results that, to rear its progeny, the cuckoo sacrifices every 

 year a score of birds. This is the reason why it has drawn 

 down ujjon itself general animadversion, and has, in Ger- 

 many, with good ground, become the symbol of ingrati- 

 tude. 



According to the authors of the General Dictionary of 

 lhe Sciences, the female cuckoo also takes upon herself 

 the task of massacring the little ones which are alread}' 

 hatched at the time when she deposits her eggs in the 

 nests. 



CHAPTER V. 



AKCHITECTUEE INTENDED FOR ENJOYMENT. 



Maternal love, as we have seen, works prodigies, and 

 neglects nothing requisite for the welfare and protection 

 of the family. But we come now to birds which sacrifice 

 merely to luxury and pleasure, and which, instead of in- 

 geniously contrived nests, build elegant groves intended 

 only for enjoyment — for promenades, tender pastimes, 

 and love-meetings. 



The most skilful of these builders of bowers, of these 

 ornithological Le Nostres, is the Spotted Chlamydera, or 

 bower-bird, which is very like our partridge. It may, 



