LIFE AND BEHAVIOR OF THE CUCKOO 
175 
most reliable and certainly the most elaborate is the work of 
Baldamua, already referred to, published in 1892, although his 
earliest communications on the subject date from 1853. Doubtless 
a year seldom passes without adding something new or old to the 
life history of this celebrity among birds. 
According to Boulder Sharpe, ^ to write an adequate biography 
of the cuckoo, one would have to devote a lifetime to the task. 
This was apparently done by Baldamus, ^ who reminds the critic that 
his final work had been revised ten times, and was completed close 
to his eightieth year. While this observer has few theories to 
offer, and is plainly intent only on reaching the truth, his refer- 
ences to authorities are meagre, and the conditions under which 
his observations were made are seldom given. In the following 
summary I shall frequently translate direct from Baldamus, 
as indicated, giving my own conclusions in certain cases with 
such comment as seems desirable. 
1. The breeding range of Cuculus canorus extends over a 
large part of Europe and Asia. The birds migrate at night, either 
singly or in small companies, the males leading by upwards of a 
week, and tend to return to the place of their birth. In the south- 
ward swing which begins rather early (in middle Europe, July- 
August), the adults precede the young, which migrate independ- 
ently. 
2. The well-known cuckoo note of spring is from the male, 
the female having a different and much harsher love-call, sug- 
gesting the sound of bubbling water. She attracts suitors in 
numbers, and fights are likely to ensue before pairing is accom- 
plished. (Compare no. 4). 
3. The cuckoo formerly built a nest and reared its own young, 
but probably never does so now. Of the three or more cases re- 
ported of brooding cuckoos, two have been thought to rest on 
mistakes in identification. The evidence for the third, furnished 
by Adolph Miiller, was considered sufficient by Darwin, but is 
rejected by Baldamus. Miiller maintained that the cuckoo 
^ Wonders of the bird world, p. 301. 
» Op. cit., pp. vi, pp. 211-214. 
