& THE NATURAL HISTORY f 
the nefts of the birds fele€ted to receive her eggs _ 
_ are to be found in great abundance ; but, like : 
the other migrating birds, fhe does not begin ¢ to 
lay till fome weeks after her arrival. /-. 
The Cuckoo makes no neft of her own, for 
as fhe is a bird of paflage, and leaves this country 
the beginning of July, inftinG impels her todes — 
pofit her eggs in the. nefts of other little birds, ¢ 
particularly in that of the hedge- fparrow, who — 
rears them after her departure. 
When the young Cuckoo is hatched it hiowe . 
all the eggs, and even its fellow-neftlings, out 
of the neft. The mode of doing this is very cu- 
rious. The little animal with the affiftance of 
its rump and wings, contrives to get the bird 
upon its back, and making a refting place for 
the burden by elevating its elbows, clambers 
‘backward with it up. the fide of the neft till it 
reaches the top, where taking breath for a mo- 
ment, it throws off its load with a jerk. It re- 
mains in this fituation a fhort time, feeling about | 
with the ends of its wings, as if to be certain ~ 
whether the bufinefs was done properly, and then — 
drops into the neft again. It is wonderful to fee 
the great exertions of the young Cuckoo, when. 
it is two or three days old, if a bird be put into 
the neft with it that is too weighty for it to lift 
| | 9 : | gute | 

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