YELLOW BUNTING. 51 



times successful with young birds that will not open their 

 mouths to a human nurse, succeeded, and our cuckoo was now 

 quite willing to open its mouth oftener than we were willing 

 to be at the trouble of waiting upon it ; when, fortunately for 

 the cuckoo and ourselves, the instinct of a third party more 

 than supplied the place of our imperfect services. One 

 morning, when we were tired of supplying the insatiable vo- 

 racity of this never satisfied bird, and had suffered it to cry 

 some little time for food without attending to it, we heard it 

 utter, on a sudden, an extraordinary gobbling note of satisfac- 

 tion, and, on looking up hastily, saw it in the act, as we 

 thought, of devouring the Yellow Bunting, whose small golden 

 head was already entirely within the red, cavernous jaws of 

 the cuckoo. The head, however, emerged in safety, and the 

 little bird flew down, picked up a piece of meat, and returned to 

 the cuckoo ; again the golden head disappeared in the cavern, 

 and the gobbling note was repeated. It was now evident 

 that the wonderful instinct of the little bird was roused by 

 the hungry cries of the young monster, and that it was busily 

 employed in supplying it with food. Our task was, therefore, 

 at an end, and we continued to admire, for several weeks, the 

 unremitting attentions of this admirable little creature to its 

 adopted child. We had reason to admire, also, its instinctive 

 choice of the food most desirable for its nursling. The cage 

 was supplied with various sorts, to suit the several tastes of its 

 inhabitants, such as seeds, crumbs of bread, German paste, and 

 meat ; the latter only was selected by the Bunting, although 

 himself a seed eater, as the most proper sustenance for the 

 nestling cuckoo, and as the best substitute for the insect food 

 which, it is probable, is the nourishment given by all small birds 

 to their young. The young cuckoo, which seemed throughout 

 utterly helpless, and incapable of providing for itself, appeared 

 to entertain a grateful, or, at least, a conscious sense of the 



attentions of its little friend, in as far as it always addressed 



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