10 
BEAUTIFUL BIEDS. 
may be termed, in ejecting from the nest, in wliicb it 
lias been by chance deposited, the natural and proper 
occupants. 
As the young Cuckoo requires a much larger 
quantity of food than the young of those birds upon 
whose labour it must depend for support, the requisite 
quantity might not be obtained were the others per- 
mitted to remain in the nest, it is therefore instigated 
to expel them, and thus secure the undivided attention 
of its foster parents. 
Naturalists have not yet been able to assign any 
satisfactory reason why the Cuckoo should be absolved 
from the labours of incubation. It may be that the 
mature birds are required to execute other important 
functions during the time that would be thus occu- 
pied. 
The peculiar call-note of the Cuckoo appears to be 
affected by the state of the weather ; during a long 
continuance of drought it gradually becomes more and 
more hoarse, till at length it seems to be uttered with 
considerable effort, and the first syllable of it is often 
broken into two or three. This defalcation in the 
Cuckoo’s song was the occasion of the ancient poet, 
John Heywood, inditing the following epigram: — 
Use maketh maistry, this Lath been said alway, 
Blit all is not alway, as aU men do say ; 
In April, the Koocoo can sing her song by note, 
In June, oftime, she cannot sing a note; 
At first, Koo coo, Koo coo sing still can she do ; 
At last, Kooke, Kooke, Kooke ; six Kookes to one coo ! 
The Romans considered the Cuckoo excellent 
eating. Pliny (lib. x. cap. 9) says that no bird can be 
compared to it for sweetness of flesh. 
