Cuckoos, then, reach these islands about the third week of April, and they leave us again at the end of the summer, the old birds flying south in July, the younger generation following three or four weeks later. Goodness knows by what extraordinary instinct these young ones know the way. But the young cuckoo is a marvel13 altogether in the manner of its education, since, when one comes to think of it, it has no upbringing by its own parents and cannot even learn how to cry "Cuckoo!" by example or instruction. Its foster-parents speak another language, and[57] its own folk have ceased from singing by the time it is out of the nest. A good deal has been written about the way in which the note varies, chiefly in the direction of greater harshness and a more staccato and less sustained note, towards the end of the cuckoo's stay. According to the rustic14 rhyme, it changes its tune15 in June, which is probably poetic16 licence rather than the fruits of actual observation. It is, however, commonly agreed that the cuckoo is less often heard as the time of its departure draws near, and the easiest explanation of its silence, once the breeding season is ended, is that the note, being the love-call of a polygamous bird, is no longer needed.
In Australia the female cuckoo is handsomely barred with white, whereas the male is uniformly black; but with our bird it is exceedingly difficult to distinguish one sex from the other on the wing, and, were it not for occasional evidence of females having been shot when actually calling, we might still believe that it is the male only that makes this sound. The note is joyous17 only in the poet's fancy, just as he has also read sadness[58] into the "sobbing18" of the nightingale. There is, indeed, when we consider its life, something fantastic in the hypothesis that the cuckoo can know no trouble in life, merely because it escapes the rigours of our winter. Eternal summer must be a delight, but the cuckoo has to work hard for the privilege, and it must at times be harried19 to the verge20 of desperation by the small birds that continually mob it in broad daylight. This behaviour on the part of its pertinacious21 little neighbours has been the occasion of much futile22 speculation23; but the one certain result of such persecution24 is to make the cuckoo, along with its fellow-sufferer, the owls25, preferably active in the sweet peace of the gloaming, when its puny27 tyrants28 are gone to roost. Much heated argument has raged round the real or supposed sentiment that inspires such demonstrations29 on the part of linnets, sparrows, chaffinches, and other determined30 hunters of the cuckoo. It seems impossible, when we observe the larger bird's unmistakable desire to win free of them, to attribute friendly feelings to its pursuers. Yet some writers have held the[59] curious belief that, with lingering memories of the days when, a year ago, they devoted31 themselves to the ugly foster-child, the little birds still regard the stranger with affection. If so, then they have an eccentric way of showing it, and the cuckoo, driven by the chattering32 little termagants from pillar to post, may well pray to be saved from its friends. On the other hand, even though convinced of their hostility33, it is not easy to believe, as some folks tell us, that they mistake the cuckoo for a hawk34. Even the human eye, though slower to take note of such differences, can distinguish between the two, and the cuckoo's note would still further undeceive them. The most satisfactory explanation of all perhaps is that the nest memories do in truth survive, not, however, investing the cuckoo with a halo of romance, but rather branding it as an object of suspicion, an interloper, to be driven out of the neighbourhood at all costs ere it has time to billet its offspring on the hard-working residents. All of which is, needless to say, the merest guesswork, since any attempt to interpret the simplest actions of birds is likely to lead us[60] into erroneous conclusions. Yet, of the two, it certainly seems more reasonable to regard the smaller birds as resenting the parasitic35 habit in the cuckoo than to admit that they can actually welcome the murder of their own offspring to make room in the nest for the ugly changeling foisted36 on them by this fly-by-night.
On the lucus a non lucendo principle, the cuckoo is chiefly interesting as a parent. The bare fact is that our British kind builds no nest of its own, but puts its eggs out to hatch, choosing for the purpose the nests of numerous small birds which it knows to be suitable. Further investigation37 of the habits of this not very secretive bird, shows that she first lays her egg on the ground and then carries it in her bill to a neighbouring nest. Whether she first chooses the nest and then lays the egg destined38 to be hatched in it, or whether she lays each egg when so moved and then hunts about for a home for it, has never been ascertained39. The former method seems the more practical of the two. On the other hand, little nests of the right sort are so plentiful40 in May that, with her mother-instinct to guide[61] her, she could always find one at a few moments' notice. Some people, who are never so happy as when making the wonders of Nature seem still more wonderful than they really are, have declared that the cuckoo lays eggs to match those among which she deposits them, or that, at any rate, she chooses the nests of birds whose eggs approximately resemble her own. I should have liked to believe this, but am unfortunately debarred by the memory of about forty cuckoo's eggs that I took, seven-and-twenty summers ago, in the woods round Dartford Heath. The majority of these were found in hedgesparrows' nests, and the absolute dissimilarity between the great spotted41 egg of the cuckoo and the little blue egg of its so-called dupe would have impressed even a colour-blind animal. Occasionally, I believe, a blue cuckoo's egg has been found, but such a freak could hardly be the result of design. As a matter of fact, there is no need for any such elaborate deception42. Up to the moment of hatching, the little foster-parents have in all probability no suspicion of the trick that has been played on them. Birds do not take[62] deliberate notice of the size or colour of their own eggs. Kearton somewhere relates how he once induced a blackbird to sit on the eggs of a thrush, and a lapwing on those of a redshank. So, too, farmyard hens will hatch the eggs of ducks or game birds and wild birds can even be persuaded to sit on eggs made of painted wood. Why then, since they are so careless of appearances, should the cuckoo go to all manner of trouble to match the eggs of hedgesparrow, robin43 or warbler? The bird would not notice the difference, and, even if she did, she would probably sit quite as close, if only for the sake of the other eggs of her own laying. Once the ugly nestling is hatched, there comes swift awakening. Yet there is no thought of reprisal44 or desertion. It looks rather as if the little foster-parents are hypnotised by the uncouth45 guest, for they see their own young ones elbowed out of the home and continue, with unflagging devotion, to minister to the insatiable appetite of the greedy little murderer. A bird so imbued46 as the parasitic cuckoo with the Wanderlust would make a very careless parent, and we must therefore perhaps revise our unflattering[63] estimate of its attitude and admit that it does the best it can by its offspring in putting them out to nurse. This habit, unique among British birds, is practised by many others elsewhere, and in particular by the American troupials, or cattle-starlings. One of these indeed goes even farther, since it entrusts47 its eggs to the care of a nest-building cousin. There are also American cuckoos that build their own nest and incubate their own eggs.
On the whole, our cuckoo is a friend to the farmer, for it destroys vast quantities of hairy caterpillars48 that no other bird, resident or migratory49, would touch. On the other hand, no doubt, the numbers of other small useful birds must suffer, not alone because the cuckoo sucks their eggs, but also because, as has been shown, the rearing of every young cuckoo means the destruction of the legitimate50 occupants of the nest. So far however as the farmer is concerned, this is probably balanced by the reflection that a single young cuckoo is so rapacious51 as to need all the insect food available.
The cuckoo, like the woodcock, is supposed to have its forerunner52. Just as the small[64] horned owl26, which reaches our shores a little in advance of the latter, is popularly known as the "woodcock owl," so also the wryneck, which comes to us about the same time as the first of the cuckoos, goes by the name of "cuckoo-leader." It is never a very conspicuous53 bird, and appears to be rarer nowadays than formerly54. Schoolboys know it best from its habit of hissing55 like a snake and giving them a rare fright when they cautiously insert a predatory hand in some hollow tree in search of a possible nest. It is in such situations that, along with titmice and some other birds, the wryneck rears its young; and it doubtless owes many an escape to this habit of hissing, accompanied by a vigorous twisting of its neck and the infliction56 of a sufficient peck, easily mistaken in a moment of panic for the bite of an angry adder57. Thus does Nature protect her weaklings.
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1
awakening
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n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的 | |
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2
lengthen
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vt.使伸长,延长 | |
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3
fervent
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adj.热的,热烈的,热情的 | |
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4
premature
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adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的 | |
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5
heralds
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n.使者( herald的名词复数 );预报者;预兆;传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 );宣布(好或重要) | |
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6
rein
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n.疆绳,统治,支配;vt.以僵绳控制,统治 | |
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7
rambles
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(无目的地)漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 ); (喻)漫谈; 扯淡; 长篇大论 | |
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8
inevitable
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adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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9
exhausted
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adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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10
migration
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n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙 | |
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11
gatherings
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聚集( gathering的名词复数 ); 收集; 采集; 搜集 | |
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12
gambols
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v.蹦跳,跳跃,嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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13
marvel
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vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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14
rustic
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adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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15
tune
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n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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16
poetic
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adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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17
joyous
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adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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18
sobbing
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<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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19
harried
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v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 );不断烦扰;一再袭击;侵扰 | |
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20
verge
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n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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21
pertinacious
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adj.顽固的 | |
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22
futile
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adj.无效的,无用的,无希望的 | |
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23
speculation
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n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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24
persecution
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n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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25
owls
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n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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26
owl
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n.猫头鹰,枭 | |
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27
puny
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adj.微不足道的,弱小的 | |
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28
tyrants
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专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 ); 暴君似的人; (古希腊的)僭主; 严酷的事物 | |
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29
demonstrations
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证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
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30
determined
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adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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31
devoted
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adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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32
chattering
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n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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33
hostility
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n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争 | |
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34
hawk
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n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员 | |
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35
parasitic
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adj.寄生的 | |
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36
foisted
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强迫接受,把…强加于( foist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
investigation
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n.调查,调查研究 | |
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38
destined
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adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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39
ascertained
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v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
plentiful
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adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
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41
spotted
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adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的 | |
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42
deception
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n.欺骗,欺诈;骗局,诡计 | |
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43
robin
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n.知更鸟,红襟鸟 | |
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44
reprisal
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n.报复,报仇,报复性劫掠 | |
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45
uncouth
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adj.无教养的,粗鲁的 | |
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46
imbued
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v.使(某人/某事)充满或激起(感情等)( imbue的过去式和过去分词 );使充满;灌输;激发(强烈感情或品质等) | |
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47
entrusts
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v.委托,托付( entrust的第三人称单数 ) | |
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48
caterpillars
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n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 );履带 | |
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49
migratory
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n.候鸟,迁移 | |
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50
legitimate
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adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法 | |
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51
rapacious
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adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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52
forerunner
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n.前身,先驱(者),预兆,祖先 | |
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53
conspicuous
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adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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54
formerly
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adv.从前,以前 | |
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55
hissing
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n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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56
infliction
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n.(强加于人身的)痛苦,刑罚 | |
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57
adder
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n.蝰蛇;小毒蛇 | |
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