328 
Robin and Cuckoo. 
in manifest terror of licr "wisibly swelliir offsprin.i; . And 
now the Cuckoo initiated trips of its own up and down the 
orchard and its cries —we thanked lieaven — ceased for Iiours at 
a time, though towards evening it once more resumed its 
accustomed billet on the roof of the shed and clamorously 
voiced its demands. It was |)articu'arly noticeable that when- 
evicr it flew over the fowls feeding in the orchard they — especi- 
ally the hens with a brood of chickens — rushed about in great 
concern, sounding tlieir warning cries to all and sundry. 
Natuialists arc now almost universally agreed that the general 
colouring and manner of flight has been brought about by 
natural selection for the definite purpose — if so telcological an 
expression may be permitted — of hitimidating those smaller 
species of birds whose nests are the potential homes of the 
Cuckoo's offs[)ring. It would not only be an embarrassment 
to the female Cuckoo if she, having found a suitable nest, 
were to be attacked by the lawful owners, but in addition it 
could subject the whole Cuckoo species with parasitic habits 
(for some of the foreign Cuckoos have not lost the parental 
love and care of ofi'spring) to the danger of extinction. On 
the other hand the advantage to the parasitic species of an 
easy and unmolested access to the nest and of the deposit of 
the egg within it unwitnessed by the legal owners is suffi- 
ciently obvious. This the female is enabled to do by her part- 
ner hovering Hawk-fashion over the nest and monopolising the 
attention of the owners, either by paralysing them with fright 
or inducing them to ' mob" and chase him away from the 
precincts. A murderer before his eyes are open, as a spar- 
row-hawk in disguise he is shot by man and mobbed and 
hooted by his kith and kin, all his life a discontented, ill-con- 
ditioned, passionate, gluttonous, and universally haled para- 
site, his very appellation a term of opprobrium, truly tin's un- 
fortunate bird's lot is not an envious one. But, reve/ions li noire 
oisean On the morning of the 21st we were, as usual a- 
wakenod very early by the cuckoo's cries, but alter breakfast 
there was peace. About lunch-time the bird was observed in 
in a large oak tree at one end of the orchard and that was the 
last we, and also apparently, the foster-mother saw of it. 
All the afternoon, and until nightfall did the little rob- 
in-redbreast call to its ungrateful errant child but with no 
