156 
BIRD-LIFE. 
which bear upon the question of such fostering care of 
orphan young. 
The history of our Cuckoo and its youth is probably 
well known to every one. This wild rapacious bird lays 
its eggs in the nests of other birds, over a large area, 
leaving them to the care of strange mothers, mostly 
our lesser singing birds, which both hatch and rear them. 
Each visit of the Cuckoo, though destructive to the 
brood of the foster-mother, in no way detracts from the 
care and love with which they treat their foster-child, 
whose outrageous appetite they gratify by every means 
in their power. All members of the Cuckoo’s family are 
brought up as foundlings, and many touching examples 
are known of foster-mother love. To give an instance— 
A Water Wagtail had made her nest in a hollow tree, 
the opening of which, though large enough to admit 
herself, was not so for the Cuckoo; in spite of this the 
female of the latter had laid her egg in the nest. In due 
process of time the egg was hatched, and the ungrateful 
foster-son, as soon as he had disposed of the Water 
Wagtail’s family, grew so large that he filled the entire 
nest, and when fit to fly was unable to get out of the 
hole. On this account the warm-hearted little bird that 
had reared the young Cuckoo continued to feed it during 
the whole summer, and far into the autumn; till, at 
length, it drew the attention of the ornithologist Thiene- 
mann. He relates this as a fact, and states positively 
that, at the time he discovered the prisoner and its 
devoted nurse, most of the other Water Wagtails had 
migrated; thus pity had caused the foster-mother to 
forego her usual habits, and forsake her kindred ! In the 
case of the Cuckoo, the foster-parent, doubtless, under¬ 
takes this extra care under the influence of compassion: 
