CHAPTER VI 
THE THIRD SEASON (1920) : NOTES 
The usual practice of the Cuckoo prior to laying 
was to separate herself from the companionship of 
the male or males which were constantly in attendance 
and fly into one or other of her favourite observation 
trees on or surrounding the common. Having 
taken up the same precise position in any particular 
tree, she would remain motionless for a length of 
time ranging from half an hour to two and a half 
hours. Generally speaking, until one had watched 
her in the same position for an hour or more, one 
could not be sure that the pair of Pipits, which on 
such occasions was always the object of her motionless 
attention, was the pair to be victimised that day. 
On the contrary, the Cuckoo would frequently 
watch, always from a point of vantage, a pair of 
Pipits, sometimes disclosing the object and result 
of her observations by finally floating down along- 
side its nest, before flying off to some other favourite 
tree where she would sit for another long period, 
watching another pair of Pipits, until she actually 
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