The Cuckoo. 
(6) THE BIRD WORLD. 
The Cuckoo.* 
Its Criminal Career and Some Superstitions. 
The Cuckoo, that “ harbinger of 
spring ” whose notes are now to be 
heard, is an outrage upon Nature. 
Before its eyes are open it instinctively 
commits murder, in youth it imposes 
upon indulgent foster parents, and, 
having arrived at maturity, it shrinks 
the responsibilities of parentage. 
Having wintered in South Africa, the 
Cuckoo begins its journey northward in 
March. Cunningly it “ spots ” the 
likeliest nest for its purpose—generally 
that of a Hedge-Sparrow in the South 
of England, and that of a Meadow Tit¬ 
lark in the North—and during the 
temporary absence of the owner deposits 
its egg. The Titlark returns, and the 
time of incubation being the same, the 
chicks are hatched together. The 
Cuckoo comes into the world with a 
curious depression in its back and, with 
eyes still unopened, it immediately 
makes use of this physical peculiarity. 
Having wriggled underneath one of the 
little Titlarks, it carries its victim 
to the edge of the nest and 
topples its over. The blind murderer 
then shuffles to and fro on its 
unsteady legs until all the legitimate 
brood has been assassinated. The 
foster parents, curiously enough, seem 
fascinated by the usurper, and provide 
it ungrudgingly with the tit-bits which 
its rapacity demands. When a fort¬ 
night has passed the Cuckoo, now fairly 
started in life, begins the series of decep¬ 
tions to which it is indebted for the pre¬ 
servation of its wicked life. In early 
youth it presents the appearance of a 
Kestrel, and here it shows wisdom. The 
foster-parents would be alarmed by a 
likeness to the Sparrow-Hawk, but of 
the Kestrel they are unafraid. Later in 
life, however, that resemblance to the 
* From The Lady of Fashion. 
Hawk of which Aristotle wrote becomes 
gradually more marked, and the 
Cuckoo, physically weak, finds its 
defence in masquerading as a pugnacious 
bird. Many are the superstitions con¬ 
nected with this mysterious creature. 
The Hindoo holds the Cuckoo in 
high esteem as a suttee returned to life. 
According to the devout Mahometan it 
is one of the ten birds allowed to enter 
into Paradise, and Juno herself (says 
Hestist) did not scorn to wear it on her 
sceptre. In rural England gamekeepers 
still insist that the Cuckoo changes into 
a Hawk for the winter months, while to 
the “ oldest inhabitant ” it is, according 
to circumstances, the prelude to pros¬ 
perity and failure, fair weather and 
foul. The ploughboy, hearing the 
Cuckoo’s note, turns the few coppers 
in his pocket, that his life may be 
financially prosperous. The farm 
labourer, on his way to see the maid of 
his choice, listens for the familiar 
sound, and, having heard it, knows that 
his love will be returned. When the 
monotonous “ kuck-ko ” reaches the 
ears of the country lass still unsought in 
marriage, she whips off her left shoe, 
and, according to tradition, discovers in 
it a hair from the head of her future 
husband. 
“ I doffed my shoe, and, by my troth, I swear 
Therein I spied this yellow frizzled hair. 
And like to Lubberkin’s in curl and hue 
As if upon his comely pate it grew.” 
If her love has been given unasked, then 
the Cuckoo must not be heard before 
the Nightingale, whose 
“ . . . liquid notes that close the eye of day, 
First heard before the shallow cuckoo’s bill, 
Portend success in love.” 
But portents in any way connected with 
the Cuckoo are untrustworthy, for 
Cuckoos, like men, were deceivers ever. 
