186 
POPULAR HISTORY OP BIRDS. 
And then a hissing noise assails the clown. 
Quickly, with hasty terror in his hreast, 
From the tree's knotty trunk he slides adown, 
And thinks the strange bird guards a serpent's nest*." 
The Cuckoos (Cuculid^) are celebrated from most of the 
species, whose habits are recorded, having the singular 
custom of depositing their eggs in the nests of other birds, 
generally far inferior to them in size. In these nests the 
eggs are incubated by the selected nurse ; and, as a reward 
for her kindness, the young cuckoo manages, when strong 
enough, to eject the nurse/s own progeny. 
The cuckoos are not all unfamiliar with the cares of nest- 
building and the responsibility of rearing their young. 
Thus, the Pheasant Cuckoo of -Australia {Centropus Pha- 
sianus) builds, according to Mr. Gould, a nest of large size, 
formed of dried grasses, in collecting which one of its long 
hind-claws must doubtless be of considerable use. This 
nest is of a domed shape, with two openings ; while the 
female is hatching, her head protrudes through one hole 
and the tail through the other. Mr. Gould found the Cen- 
tropi in swampy places, among the brushes which abounded 
with tall grasses and dense herbage. In such places they 
ran with great facility, and when forced to leave them flew 
* The Rural Muse, Poems by John Clare, p. 140. 
