234 THE CUCKOO’S SECRET 
spring — and even on the eggs — produced by their 
daughter. Yet again, it may prove to be the fact 
that the male Cuckoo tends to associate only with 
female Cuckoos of his own type, i.e: those reared by 
the same species of fosterer. This idea may some 
day turn out to be less fanciful than it sounds — 
that there is at present an unknown but nevertheless 
definite distinction between the different types of 
Cuckoo, according to the foster-parents by which 
they were bred and to which they are attracted. 
The Mating of Cuckoos 
Writer after writer, in dealing with the Cuckoo, 
has stated that the Cuckoo is polyandrous, i.e . that, 
instead of pairing whether permanently or for the 
season, each hen Cuckoo is attended by a number 
of males. As far as I know, the statement has 
barely been questioned, and no doubt derives from 
the independent statement that male Cuckoos 
outnumber the females. This in its turn is no 
doubt the result of a rash deduction from observa- 
tion. Certainly the male Cuckoo makes himself 
widely known by incessant announcements of 
his name — “ In May he sings all day ” ; and 
not improbably nine-tenths of my readers have 
never knowingly either seen or heard a female 
