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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
20
"At
the
next
visit,
after
an
interval
of
forty-eight
hours,"
writes
Mrs.
Blackburn,
"we
found
the
young
cuckoo
alone
in
the
nest,
and
both
the
young
pipits
lying
down
the
bank,
about
ten
inches
from
the
margin
of
the
nest,
but
quite
lively
after
being
warmed
in
the
hand.
They
were
replaced
in
the
nest
beside
the
cuckoo,
which
struggled
about
till
it
got
its
back
under
one
of
them,
when
it
climbed
backward
directly
up
the
open
side
of
the
nest
and
pitched
the
pipit
from
its
back
on
to
the
edge.
It
then
stood
quite
upright
on
its
legs,
which
were
straddled
wide
apart,
with
the
claws
firmly
fixed
half-way
down
the
inside
of
the
nest,
and,
stretching
its
wings
apart
and
backward,
it
elbowed
the
pipit
fairly
over
the
margin
so
far
that
its
struggles
took
it
down
the
bank
instead
of
back
into
the
nest.
After
this
the
cuckoo
stood
a
minute
or
two
feeling
back
with
its
wings,
as
if
to
make
sure
that
the
pipit
was
fairly
overboard,
and
then
subsided
into
the
bottom
of
the
nest.
"I
replaced
the
ejected
one
and
went
home.
On
returning
the
next
day,
both
nestlings
were
found
dead
and
cold
out
of
the
nest....
But
what
struck
me
most
was
this:
the
cuckoo
was
perfectly
naked,
without
a
vestige
of
a
feather,
or
even
a
hint
of
future
feathers;
its
eyes
were
not
yet
opened,
and
its
neck
seemed
too
weak
to
support
the
weight
of
the
head.
The
pipit
had
well-developed
quills
on
the
wings
and
back,
and
had
bright
eyes,
partially
open,
yet
they
seemed
quite
helpless
under
the
manipulations
of
the
cuckoo,
which
looked
a
much
less
developed
creature.
The
cuckoo's
legs,
however,
seemed
very
muscular;
and
it
appeared
to
feel
about
with
its
wings,
which
were
absolutely
featherless,
as
with
hands,
the
spurious
wing
(unusually
large
in
proportion)
looking
like
a
spread-out
thumb."
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