214 
THE CUCKOO’S SECRET 
man delivering coals carries the sack. For the 
addled egg which he also jettisoned one could not 
feel the same sympathy. Most horrible of all, 
however, was the cold-blooded unconcern of the 
mother Pipit, whose attitude might have been 
expressed by her saying : ‘ Hurry up and get the 
job over, so that we can have a moment’s peace ! ’ ” 
The young Cuckoo grows very fast. Within 
three days its skin has blackened, and shortly 
afterwards its feathers begin to sprout. It remains 
in the nest for some three weeks, and on leaving it 
is still fed by its foster parents often for a further 
three weeks.* Its appetite is insatiable, and the 
appearance of the nestling as it rises and falls in 
the nest, snapping with its gaping crimson mouth, 
is quite a terrifying one. 
Amongst young Cuckoos there must be a high 
percentage of mortality ; those hatched in the nests 
of species building on or near the ground fall 
victims to prowling vermin, whilst those born in 
nests of Reed Warblers building in reeds growing 
in water frequently overbalance, and are found 
drowned beneath the nest. 
The whereabouts of a fledgling Cuckoo are 
often betrayed by its continuous wheezing note, 
* See photograph opposite. 
