FIELD SCRAPS. 



457 



been the case with some little ducklings belonging to my friend at 

 Laytonstone, which have lately come to a watery grave in consequence 

 of their having got into their bathing tub when the water within it has 

 been too low to allow of their walking out again. 



Some of my friends, who have read my " Rural Gleanings/' and have 

 had a laugh at the anecdote contained therein, concerning a cock fanning 

 his wings to blow a piece of bread across the water to a hen, who on the 

 opposite side was longing for it, differ from me in considering it an 

 instance of sagacity, and pronounce it as being merely an odd coinci- 

 dence. I am ever ready to renounce an opinion when I perceive the 

 propriety of adopting another which is better founded ; but in the 

 instance alluded to, there were many movements observable, but not 

 easily to be described, which seemed to evince that the birds were sum- 

 moning all their faculties of reasoning (or whatever that power is which 

 assists animals upon extraordinary occasions, when instinct, which is 

 limited in its performance, and adheres to a certain course from which it 

 never deviates, fails them,) to devise some means to overcome the diffi- 

 culty, which otherwise would have prevented them from obtaining their 

 desired object. 



In Edwards's " Discourse on the Emigration of British Birds," pub- 

 lished in 1814, the author in speaking of the cuckoo says, " Many are 

 the conjectures how it preserves itself in winter ; some say that it hides 

 itself in our island, and continues in a dormant state ; and it has been 

 asserted, that cuckoos have been discovered in the midst of winter, not 

 only in holes of trees, but under ground in sandy soils, also in the 

 caverns of rocks, antique buildings, old walls, outhouses, and the like. 

 I have heard it affirmed, that an old hollow tree being cut down in a 

 certain village in Wiltshire, and laid on the fire, a cuckoo, revived by 

 the warmth, jumped out of the fuel, and began repeating its usual note 

 with great energy, to the admiration of the beholders ; but I think this 

 relation is too extravagant to deserve credit." I agree with the author 

 that this savours of extravagance, or at least of exaggeration, but I 

 think there are too many instances of cuckoos being found concealed in 

 places during the winter, to warrant our entire disbelief, and he him- 

 self, it will be seen in the following passage, says, " it is indisputable 

 there are instances of cuckoos appearing in winter, but they are very 

 rare and uncommon; and we may reasonably suppose, that when a 

 straggler is seen in that severe season, it was either bewildered in its 

 passage, or hatched too late to take its flight with the rest of the genus." 

 Yet/notwithstanding this, our author doubts that they are ever found 

 in a torpid state in trees. In the course of casual conversation with a 



