The general color of this species is velvety-black; the tops of the

head is clothed with a greyish crest, and each side of the occiput is ornamented with three long slender shafts, ending in a small oval vane; back of the neck changeable goldengreen; flanks covered with black loose, long feathers, covering the wings and hiding the tail, and capable of being raised up obliquely. Feathers of the throat large and scale-shaped, bordered with reflecting green and gold; tailfeathers velvety,

with some long floating filaments. Length, about eleven inches.

THE MAGNIFICENT BIRD OF PARADISE.

533

THE MAGNIFICENT BIRD OF PARADISE.

This beautiful bird is of an orange-chestnut above, deeper on the top of the head and back, and sometimes inclining to purple the tips of the wings and tail are brown; the throat is blackish, with a purple gloss; the breast and under parts are covered with scaledshape feathers of a deep changeable golden-green, with a blue reflection down the breast. From back of the neck springs a double ruff, composed of slender plumes, with slightly dilated extremities. The wing-coverts

are

orange-colored,

with transverse

blackish crescents;

from the tail-coverts spring two long slender shafts of golden-green.

THE KING BIRD OF PARADISE.

This rare species, one of the very smallest of the group, is a native of the Moluccas. It is about the size of a sparrow. Its upper plumage is intense purplish chestnut; a zone of golden-green extends across the chest; from each side under the shoulder springs a fan-like plume of six or seven dusky feathers, tipped with the richest golden-green. From the tail spring two long slender shafts, each elegantly terminating in a broad emerald web, rising from one side only of the shaft, and disposed into a flat curl; under parts of the body, white. In its habits this species is said to be solitary, feeding on fruits and berries.

OF THE CUCKOO TRIBE IN GENERAL.

THESE birds have their bill weak, and more or less bending. The nostrils are bounded by a small rim; and the tongue is short and pointed. The toes are situated two forward and two backward. The tail is wedge-shaped, and consists of ten soft feathers.

The different species of Cuckoos are scattered through the four quarters of the globe, but they are much more common in the hot than in temperate or cold climates. One species only is found in Great Britain.

THE COMMON CUCKOO.

The Cuckoo is about fourteen inches in length, and twenty-five in

COMMON CUCKOO.

breadth. The bill is black, strong, and somewhat curved. The upper parts of the plumage are chiefly of a dove-color; the throat is pale grey; and the breast and belly are white, crossed with undulated lines of black. The vent feathers are of a buff-color, marked with a few dusky spots. The two middle tail feathers are black, tipped with white. The plumage of the young birds is chiefly brown, mixed with ferruginous and black.

The Cuckoo visits us early in the spring. Its well-known cry is generally heard about the middle of April, and ceases about the end of June: its stay is short, the old Cuckoos being said to quit this country early in July. These birds are generally supposed to build no nest; but, what is also extraordinary, the female Cuckoo deposits her solitary egg in the nest of another bird, by which it is hatched. The nests she chooses for this purpose are generally those of the HedgeSparrow, Water-Wagtail, Titlark, Yellow-Hammer, Green Linnet, or

Winchat: but of these it has been observed, that she shows the greatest partiality to the nest of the Hedge-Sparrow.

We are indebted to the observations of Dr. Jenner, for the following account of the habits and economy of this singular bird, in the disposal of its egg. He states that, during the time the Hedge-Sparrow is laying her eggs, which generally occupies four or five days, the Cuckoo contrives to deposit her egg among the rest, leaving the future care of it entirely to the Hedge-Sparrow. This intrusion often occasions some disorder; for the old Hedge-Sparrow, at intervals, while she is sitting, not only throws out some of her own eggs, but sometimes injures them in such a way, that they become addle, so that it frequently happens, that not more that two or three of the parent-bird's eggs are hatched: but, what is very remarkable, it has never been observed that she has either thrown out or injured the egg of the Cuckoo. When the Hedge-Sparrow has set her usual time, and has disengaged the young Cuckoo and some of her own offspring from the shell, her own young-ones, and any of her eggs that remain unhatched, are soon turned out: the young Cuckoo then remains in full possession of the nest, and is the sole object of the future care of the fosterparent. The young birds are not previously killed, nor are the eggs demolished; but they are left to perish together, either entangled in the bush that contains the nest, or lying on the ground beneath it. On the 18th of June, 1787, Dr. Jenner examined a nest of a HedgeSparrow, which then contained a Cuckoo's and three Hedge-Sparrow's eggs. On inspecting it the day following, the bird had hatched: but the nest then contained only a young Cuckoo and one young HedgeSparrow. The nest was placed so near the extremity of a hedge, that he could distinctly see what was going forward in it; and, to his great astonishment, he saw the young Cuckoo, though so lately hatched, in the act of turning out the young Hedge-Sparrow. The mode of accomplishing this was curious; the little animal, with the assistance of its rump and wings, contrived to get the bird upon its back, and, making a lodgment for its burden by elevating its elbows, climbed backward with it up the side of the nest, till it reached the top; where, resting for a moment, it threw off its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged it from the nest. After remaining a short time in this situation, and feeling about with the extremities of its wings, as if to be convinced that the business was properly executed, it dropped into the nest again. Dr. Jenner made several experiments in different nests, by repeatedly putting in an egg to the young Cuckoo; but this he always found to be disposed of in the same manner. It is very remarkable, that nature seems to have provided for the singular disposition of the Cuckoo, in its formation at this period; for, different from other newlyhatched birds, its back, from the scapula downward, is very broad, with a considerable depression in the middle, which seems intended for the express purpose of giving a more secure lodgment to the egg of the Hedge-Sparrow or its young-one, while the young Cuckoo is employed in removing either of them from the nest. When it is about twelve days old, this cavity is quite filled up, the back assumes the shape of that of nestling birds in general, and at that time the dispo

sition of turning out its companion entirely ceases. The smallness of the Cuckoo's egg, which in general is less than that of the HouseSparrow, is another circumstance to be attended to in this surprising transaction, and seems to account for the parent Cuckoo's depositing it in the nests of such small birds only as have been mentioned. If she were to do this in the nest of a bird that produced a larger egg, and consequently a larger nestling, the design would probably be frus trated; the young Cuckoo would be unequal to the task of becoming sole possessor of the nest, and might fall a sacrifice to the superior strength of its partners.

Dr. Jenner observes, that the eggs of two Cuckoos are sometimes deposited in the same nest: he gives the following instance, which fell under his observation. Two Cuckoos and a Hedge-sparrow were hatched in the same nest; one Hedge-Sparrow's egg remained unhatched. In a few hours a contest began between the Cuckoos for possession of the nest; and this continued undetermined till the afternoon of the following day, when one of them, which was somewhat superior in size, turned out the other, together with the young Hedge-Sparrow, and the unhatched egg. The contest, he adds, was very remarkable: the combatants alternately appeared to have the advantage, as each carried the other several times, nearly to the top of the nest, and again sank down, oppressed by the weight of its burden; till at length, after various efforts, the strongest of the two prevailed, and was afterwards brought up by the Hedge-Sparrow.

No reason can be assigned, from the formation of this bird, why, in common with others, it should not build a nest, incubate its eggs, and rear its own offspring; for it is in every respect perfectly formed for all these offices. To what cause then may we attribute the above singularities? May they not be owing to the following circumstances? -the short residence this bird makes in the country where it is des tined to propagate its species, and the necessity that exists of its producing, during that short residence, a numerous progeny. The Cuckoo's first appearance in England, is about the middle of April: its egg is not ready for incubation till some weeks after its arrival, seldom before the middle of May. A fortnight is taken up by the sitting bird in hatching the egg. The young bird generally continues three weeks in the nest before it can fly, and the foster-parents feed it more than five weeks after this period; so that, if a Cuckoo should be ready with an egg much sooner than the time pointed out, not a single nestling would be fit to provide for itself before its parent would be instinctively directed to seek a new residence, and be thus compelled to abandon its offspring; for the old birds take their final leave of this country the first week in July.

"There seems (says Dr. Jenner) no precise time fixed for the departure of young Cuckoos. I believe they go off in succession, probably as soon as they are capable of taking care of themselves; for although they stay here till they become nearly equal in size, and in growth of plumage, to the parent, yet in this very state the fostering care of the Hedge-Sparrow is not withdrawn from them. I have frequently seen the young Cuckoo of such a size, that the Hedge-Sparrow has perched