68 
THE CUCKOO’S SECRET 
sight of a Kestrel ( Falco tinnunculns) hovering over 
the common. 
At i p.m. we settled down to concentrated 
watching. At 2 p.m. I took a ten minutes’ walk 
round to ascertain if the Simmondses had anything 
to report. Again at 3 p.m. I did likewise ; but no 
one had even seen the Cuckoo since just after 1 p.m. 
in the neighbourhood of No. 5 territory, when the 
male Pipit took rather more than usual interest in 
her movements. 
I returned by a circuitous route, and just as I 
reached my starting point I was startled by a 
Cuckoo, chased by a Pipit, rising not twenty yards 
in front of me. Going to the spot whence she 
appeared to rise and fruitlessly hunting for five 
minutes or more, I wondered whether I had 
disturbed her in the act of laying her egg on the 
ground preparatory to depositing it somewhere or 
other. So I retreated into a position where I 
could easily command a view of the particular spot. 
After watching for half an hour without seeing any 
sign of the Cuckoo, I had another look round the 
place whence she had risen, and finding nothing, 
became disturbed lest the day’s proceedings had 
been marred. The other watchers reported that 
they had seen nothing, so we dispersed for tea. 
