ON MIMICRY AND DECEPTION 
what they are not, and as the instances above mentioned 
tend to show that they possess so great a power of as- 
similating, it is well worthy of our most careful considera- 
tion and investigation, in order to determine and ascertain 
if the possibility exists of elucidating this remarkable 
phenomenon. 
CUCKOO. 
The statement in the Times of December 11, 1888, that 
a cuckoo was heard but not seen, reminded me that a few 
years before a country boy employed in the Gardens 
amused himself by climbing one of the large trees, where 
he was completely concealed, and he so closely imitated the 
voice of the cuckoo, that 1, as well as many of the visitors, 
was for some time most perfectly deceived. This was at 
the time of the year when the cuckoo is usually in full 
song. 1 have no doubt that if my young friend were in 
the country in the depth of the winter, and were to exert 
his vocal organs in imitation of the well-known bird, we 
should have more letters corroborating the letter in the 
Times to which 1 have referred. 
A very remarkable occurrence once happened in the 
Gardens. A young cuckoo taken at Oxford was presented 
to the Society. To my great astonishment 1 found that 
a pair of hedge-sparrows had taken upon themselves the 
task of feeding this greedy young bird, whose open mouth 
and craving voice and insatiable appetite so completely occu- 
pied these two little birds that they entirely neglected their 
own nest and young to satisfy the wants of the stranger. I 
can only account for it by supposing that the hedge-sparrows 
and other insectivorous birds are imposed upon by the dis- 
tressing note and the expression of hunger exhibited by the 
young cuckoo’s gaping mouth. If there is such a thing as 
fascination I think this a very good instance of it. 
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