YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 
129 
,, "The singular, I will not say unnatural, conduct of 
® European cuckoo (cuailus canortis,) u hich never 
instructs a nest for itself, but drops its eggs in those 
other birds, and abandons them to their mercy and 
y^nagement, is so universally known, and so proverbial, 
the whole tribe of cuckoos have, by some incon- 
orate people, been stigmatized as destitute of all 
j^ ’'outal care and affection. Witliout attempting to 
^ '^O'int for this remarkable habit of the European 
^P^cies, far less to considci’ as an error what the n isdom 
Eeaven has imposed as a duty upon the species, I 
'k remark, that the bird now before us builds 
O'vn nest, liatches its own eggs, and rears its own 
; and, in conjugal and parental affection, seems 
pEe behind any of its neighbours of the grove. 
I, E‘rly in May, they begin to pair, when obstinate 
^j/tles take place among the males. About the tenth 
Us month, they commence building. The nest is 
j^"ully fixed among the horizontal branches of an 
tree; sometimes in a solitary thorn, crab, or 
in some retired part of the woods. It is con- 
with little art, and scarcely any concavity, of 
*>114 I twigs, intermixed with green weeds, 
®ut K of the common maple. On this almost 
“sd, the eggs, usually three or four in number, are 
'll these are of a uniform gi-eenish blue colour, 
dig proportionable to that of the bird. While 
disit. 's sitting’, the male is generally not far 
and gives the alarm, by his notes, when any 
Wuce, 
<*Ud 
yoi 
,i is approaching. The female sits so close, that 
,'*}ay almost reach her with your hand, and then 
'”’'*ates herself to the ground, feigning lameness. 
'hr 
Pui 
you away from the spot, fiuttering, trailing 
M’T'“gs, and tumbling over, in the manner of the 
“Ige, woodcock, and many other species. Both 
Co,,*?*® nuite in providing food for the young. This 
Si4p|’*^ts. for the most part, of caterpillars, particularly 
tile ' ^.“‘E'st apple trees. The same insects constitute 
part of their own sustenance. They are 
VoT ’ ^*th some justice, of sucking the eggs of 
I 6 
