The Cuckoo Bird
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British Birds and Their Eggs Series II, 9399
The Cuckoo, which is one of the most interesting of our birds, arrives in April and leaves in August, though the young ones linger on till the middle of September. It is a handsome bird, about the size of the sparrow hawk. Besides its peculiar cry, which is the herald of spring, the Cuckoo is remarkable on account of its building no nest for itself, but leaving the rearing of its young to other birds. It lays its egg on the ground, and then carries it in its beak and places it in the nest of the meadow pipit, hedge sparrow, pied wagtail, wren, finch, or any other small bird. The eggs are laid at intervals of about a week, and very much in colour, and no two eggs are placed in the same nest. |
