General colour of the head, mantle, and under parts pale cinnamon; wings and tail black, broadly barred with white. Lower back broadly barred with black, white, and buff. The sexes and young resemble each other in plumage. Length 12·2 in.; bill 2·5 in.; wing 6 in. THE CUCKOO Cuculus canorus, Linnæus The arrival of the Cuckoo, as heralded by his well-known note, is eagerly awaited by every one who lives in the country, ornithologist or otherwise, and so anxious are some to record his arrival, that they persuade themselves that they have heard him before the March winds have abated. There is little doubt, however, that this species rarely, if ever, arrives in March, and not before mid-April can his pleasing note be generally heard. Throughout the whole of our islands this bird is common and well known, inhabiting equally the wild open country, the enclosed arable land, or thickly-wooded estates. It feeds entirely on insects, especially caterpillars, those of the common Tiger-moth being an especially favourite delicacy. Its flight is direct and fairly rapid, the short wings and long tail giving it very much the appearance of a Sparrow-Hawk, for which it is frequently mistaken by the smaller birds, and mobbed accordingly. [Illustration: CUCKOO _Cuculus canorus_ Adult (below). Young (above)] This bird solves housekeeping difficulties in the simplest way by leaving its eggs to the tender mercies of other species. It apparently usually watches other birds when building, and as soon as the chosen nest contains a few eggs, it lays its own egg on the ground, and picking it up in its beak deposits it in the nest, throwing out at the same time a few of the rightful eggs. The eggs are, as a rule, deposited one by one in a different nest of the same species, and when two Cuckoo’s eggs are found in the same nest, they are almost assuredly the produce of two different birds. Having deposited its eggs, the mother Cuckoo takes no further interest in her progeny, but continues to lead a life of leisure, till early in August both sexes leave us for their southern winter-quarters. The eggs of this species are extremely variable, but as a rule are of a pale bluish or greenish ground colour, with reddish spots and mottlings; sometimes they agree so closely with the eggs of their foster-parents as to be almost indistinguishable, but such cases are exceptional. When the young Cuckoo has been hatched about twenty-four hours, he sets to work to eject the other nestlings by getting them on his back, in which there is a hollow, and pushing them over the side of the nest. He is most importunate in his demands for food, and continues to be a burden on the foster-parents long after he is able to feed himself. Once, however, he is fledged, he wings his way southwards and we see him no more, till he returns the following spring