'tU G U G K O O. Clafsrf. 



The reproach feems to arife from this bird making 

 ufe of the bed or neft of another to depofit its eggs in ; 

 leaving the care of its young to a wrong parent. 

 A water-wagtail or hedge Iparrow, is generally the 

 nurfe of the young cuckoos ; who, if they happeri 

 to be hatched at the fame time with the genuine 

 ofF-fpring, quickly deftroy them, by overlaying theni 

 as their growth is foon fo fuperior. This want in the 

 cuckooof the common attention other birds have t6 

 their young -, feems to arife from fome defed in its 

 make, that difables it from incubation j but what that 

 is, we confefs ourfelves ignorant, referring the inquiry 

 to fome fkilful anatomift. 

 Defer. The weight ot the cuckoo is a little more than five 

 ounces -, the length is fourteen inches ; the breadth 

 twenty -five. The bill is black, very ftrong, a little 

 incurvated, and about two-thirds of an inch long. 

 The irides are yellow. The head, hind part of the 

 neck, the coverts of the wings, and the rump are of a 

 dove color •, darker on the head and paler on therumpa 

 The throat and upper part of the neck are of a pale 

 grey : the breaft and belly white, crofled elegantly 

 with undulated lines of black. The vent feathers of 

 a buff color, marked with a few dufky fpots. The 

 wings are very long, reaching within an inch and a 

 half of the end of the tail •, the firft quil feather is 

 three inches fhorter than the others ; they are dufliVi 

 and their inner webs are barred with large oVal white 

 fpots. The tail confills of ten feathers of unequal 

 lengths like thofe of the butcher bird : the two mid- 

 dle are black tipt with white -, the others are marked 

 with white fpots on each fide their Ihafcs. The legs 



are 



