408 
RURAL HOURS. 
behaved than his brother of the Old World ; he has no naughty 
habits ; he builds a nest of his own, and he is very faithful to his 
wife and children. Our cuckoos are of two kinds, the yellow- 
billed and the black-billed ; both differ slightly from that of Eu- 
rope. They arrive in May, and pass the summer with us. Their 
nests are said to be rather carelessly built, as though they had 
not thoroughly learned the art. 
It is singular, that while the cuckoo of this part of the world 
pairs and builds its own nest, like most of its tribe, we have 
another bird who has the careless, reckless habits of the European 
cuckoo. It is well known that our cow-pen black-bird lays her 
eggs in the nests of other birds ; and it is remarked that she gen- 
erally chooses the nest of those much smaller than herself, like 
the summer yellow-bird, the blue-bird, song-sparrow, among our 
nicest and best-behaved birds. One might almost fancy, that like 
some unhappy women who have trifled with their own characters, 
the cow-bird is anxious that her daughters should be better be- 
haved than herself, for she is careful to choose them the best fos- 
ter-mothers ; happily, such a course has often succeeded with hu- 
man mothers, but with the bird it seems to fail. There is no 
such thing as reformation among them. 
Wednesday, 6th. — Mild rain again. We have a word or two 
more to say about our rare birds, or at least those wdiich are less 
common than our every-day flocks. Among these are a number 
besides the cuckoo, in which we feel an interest, chiefly on account 
of their European associations. 
Let us begin with the chattering Magpie — " la gazza Ladra" — 
whose naughty tricks, and noisy tongue, are well known to us by 
reputation at least. They are very rare indeed in this State, but 
