The HOUSE-SPARROWS, CHAFFINCHES, noisy be came; But their notes, void of melody, always the same. other varieties, one with body varied with reddish, the other grey, covered with a few white dots. Inhabits Europe, Asia, and Africa; said to feed on insects, and the larva of moths; migrates. Is heard towards the end of April, and generally ceases to sing about the beginning of July. I heard it at Lewisham, in Kent, in the year 1824, on the 13th of that month; it has been heard in Norfolk as late as the last day of it. It would seem, from these facts, that it is heard later in the south-eastern portion of this island, than any where else. Flesh good. The cuckoo is a bird with considerable powers of flight; the body is slender, wings and tail long; the plumage, although unostentatious, is yet handsome. Mr.YARREL, to whom we are indebted for an account of some curious facts relative to birds, and whose paper on the evolution of the chick from the egg is alluded to in the Introduction, informs me, that he has dissected many cuckoos ; that the stomach is similar in structure to the woodpecker's; and, therefore, fitted for the digestion of animal food only; that the contents of the stomach invariably indicate the presence of such food, namely, the larvae of some insects. I cannot learn from any quarter that the cuckoo has been kept alive in this country (like the nightingale) throughout the year. Our ignorance of its genuine food, or the cold of the climate, or both, possibly, have prevented such preservation. Another fact relative to this bird, for which I am indebted to Mr. YARREL, is, that its testes are not larger than those of the house-sparrow; and hence, Mr. YARREL seems disposed to infer, that the sexual organs in the cuckoo are in a very low state of excitement. May not this account for the strange anomaly of this bird's laying its eggs in other birds' nests? The cuckoo neither makes a nest, nor hatches her own eggs; SEA-EAGLES and BUZZARDS, and OSPREYS, were there Those who give of their nests to the GRAKLES a share.* nor, as far as is known, does she nourish her offspring. The eggs are generally deposited in the nest of the Hedge-Sparrow, and are hatched, and the young provided for by this little bird. The cuckoo is not known to lay more than one egg in any one nest. The eggs are reddish-white, thickly spotted with blackish-brown, and smaller than those of a blackbird; they vary, however, occasionally, both in size and colour. The cuckoo does not invariably lay her egg in the hedgesparrow's nest, although I have never seen it in any other; it has been found in that of the Reed-Bunting, the Linnet's, and the Wagtail's; and, from the circumstance of Red-backed-Shrikes being seen busily engaged in feeding a young cuckoo, it is conjectured by Messrs. SHEPPARD and WHITEAR, that the cuckoo occasionally lays her egg in that bird's nest. It has been stated in a popular work, that, from the egg of the cuckoo being small for a bird of its size, the hedge-sparrow bas no suspicion of the intrusion. But the eggs of the hedgesparrow are, nevertheless, much smaller than those of the cuckoo, and are light-blue without a spot; it is quite improbable, there" fore, that so different an egg would not be discovered. Besides, it seems very likely that the cuckoo would be seen by the hedgesparrow in her nest. The deception is altogether incredible. We have no means of ascertaining the reasons for the hedgesparrow's permitting the egg of the cuckoo to remain in her nest, no more than we have for the fact that the Fishing-Hawk permits the Grakle to build its nest in the suburbs of its own citadel. We must, at present, be contented with stating the facts It was formerly suspected, that the hedge-sparrow herself * See Note (1), article Haliæëtos. The HOVER-HAWK came, too, though loth to renounce His strong inclination on pigeons to pounce; threw out her own eggs from the nest, or destroyed her own young, to make room for her guest, the cuckoo, under the impression, it is presumed, that it was an office of honour to be thus employed in fostering our canorous summer visitant, but more accurate observation appears to have dispelled these suspicions. Dr. JENNER, (Philosophical Transactions for 1788,) found that, soon after the young cuckoo is hatched by the hedge-sparrow, the eggs, or the young ones, whichsoever should happen to be in the nest, are turned out of it by the young cuckoo, and by it alone. It would seem, that the operation of expulsion is not less singular than the deposition of the egg itself in the hedgesparrow's nest; it is effectuated by the young cuckoo, in a curious manner, with its broad hollow back, which, it has been conjectured, is thus formed to enable it to perform this extraordinary action. It is now also pretty well ascertained, that, when a cuckoo is hatched in the hedge-sparrow's nest, there is no room for any other occupant. As far as I have been able to ascertain the fact, the difference between the size and plumage of the male and female cuckoo is very trifling ; the male is a little larger. The song of the cuckoo is supposed to be the note of the male alone; the female's note is said to be very different, much less known, and has some resemblance to the cry of the dabchick. The female, it is also said, is generally attended by two or three males in every country, from the earliest period of their arrival. This is, however, I think, too broad a statement, although it has been asserted by naturalists, that the males are always considerably more numerous than the females. Dr. JENNER (Philosophical Transactions for 1824,) says, that "the cuckoo is invariably a polygamist, and never pairs in this country." The truth seems to be, notwithstanding all that has been observed and published concerning this bird, that its Natural History is still On his librating wing he was oft seen apart, involved in considerable obscurity. See the Hedge-Sparrow's Complaint. The SONG itself is too well known to require description, being similar to its name CUCKOO; although, I think, it approaches rather nearer to the name given to it in Somersetshire, Gookoo. It is almost always clear and distinct for some time after its arrival; but, towards the close of the season, there is considerable hesitation in the utterance of the notes; thus, instead of cuckoo being repeatedly and distinctly uttered, cuck, cuck, is often repeated in an indistinct tone, before the koo which follows. The cuckoo usually sings during the day; but, on May 1st, 1822, the Nightingale and Cuckoo were heard to sing at Shefford, in Bedfordshire, the whole night through, by Mr. Inskip, of Shefford, as he believed, in competition; ROBERT Bloomfield, then resident also at Shefford, was likewise a witness of this extraordinary fact, an allusion to which will be found in the "Remains" of that poet lately published, as well as several other curious particulars concerning birds, under the head of the Bird and Insects' Post-Office, which every lover of Natural History should peruse. See also the Examiner for May 26, 1822, where it is also stated, that the cuckoo was heard several times during the same season as late as ten or eleven o'clock at night. It is scarcely necessary to add, that these are, in this country, rare occurrences. I heard the cuckoo in GreenwichPark, May 22, 1826, at nearly nine o'clock at night, one hour after sun-set. The assertion of Montagu, whose accuracy may in general be relied on, that the cuckoo almost invariably leaves us the first day of July, is very incorrect. It is seen much later than that, very often in August, although it does not sing in that month. I once had an opportunity of seeing, in Somersetshire, a There were RINGTAILS and LANNERS, and GosHAWKS, a few ; And the FALCONS, like aides-de-camp, round about flew ; hedge sparrow feed a young cuckoo for about three weeks. It was taken from a hedge-sparrow's nest in a hedge in my father's garden, a few yards only from the dwelling-house, soon after it was hatched, and immediately placed in a large blackbird's cage, the door of which was left open, the cage being placed a short distance from the hedge whence the bird was taken. The hedge-sparrow went regularly into the cage with food to the cuckoo, till it became able to fly; the door was then closed, and she fed it through the bars of the cage, but in about three weeks deserted it. We afterwards supplied it with bread and milk, and earthworms, which last, on being placed in its mouth, it devoured most greedily; but it seemed unwilling, or unable, to pick up either worms or the bread-and-milk. When it attempted to pick up its food, which it sometimes did, the head and neck were first drawn back slowly, and then darted forward in a way that seemed formidable ; but, nevertheless, was very inefficient as a process for obtaining food. This bird arrived at a considerable size, but it was generally very sluggish and inactive. It was found dead in its cage one morning some time in August, it was conjectured chiefly from cold; but, probably, also, from a deficiency, or total want of its natural food. It was, when first taken, and for some time afterwards, both in appearance and in its motions, a disgusting animal; as it grew up, however, its appearance improved. And here I cannot avoid hinting my suspicions, that the cuckoo, even when at maturity, might be fed sometimes by other birds; certain it is, that it is very often accompanied in its flight by one or more small birds, for what purpose I could never ascertain. See the Note on the WRYNECK. As, however, the cuckoo is a scansorial bird, it is very possible that it |