Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/124

90 how to feed itself. From the first it seemed incapable of seeing any food presented to it; even a wriggling mealworm was not noticed, and it was evident that it fed by a sense of touch only, a habit which afterwards led to its death; for, being neglected, it refused to eat, although plenty of food was before it. Even when full-grown it seemed unable to find its food. Another peculiarity was that it always rose to eat, and without getting on its legs would neither accept nor eat anything. It then struck out at the hand which held the food, in the aimless way of young Cuckoos, at the same time generally uttering a low trill, which I particularly remarked, as some writers describe a young Cuckoo as quite silent. A correspondent describes a young Cuckoo as crushing caterpillars before eating them (Zool. 1896, p. 384), but mine did not treat mealworms in this manner, but swallowed them at once. At first the sunken eyes of this young Cuckoo were very noticeable, but by the time it was half-grown they were as prominent as in most other birds. The yellow mouth—at first so bright—also soon changed to a dull pink, and the beak became nearly black. When in the nest the position of the head is more bent back than in other nestling birds, and the eye, as I have said, more sunken. Good authorities have denied that the parent Cuckoo takes any subsequent interest in its offspring, but at the age of about thirty days my captive was visited by an adult Cuckoo, which was seen to flutter about the cage without actually alighting upon it. I did not myself see it, but the keeper's boy could not be mistaken.

On July 28th a third young Cuckoo was found, also in a Hedge-Sparrow's nest, all three being discovered by the noise made by the old foster-bird in feeding them. It was about four days old, and was within twenty yards of the second nest, all of them being placed in hedges in one garden. These youngsters were of a black tone of plumage, and must have been the offspring of the same female, judging from this and the remarkable proximity of the nests.

I may here mention that two Cuckoos did good service in the early part of May by repeatedly feeding (in the presence of my gardener) at Northrepps on a small caterpillar (Cidaria prunata) which infested the gooseberries. On the other hand, some gooseberry-bushes at Keswick, which did not receive their atten-