Nature study —the Cuckoo
The common cuckoo that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, and lets them have the bother of rearing them is well known. This article deals with the habits of the Wingless Cuckoo or Parasitus Capitalismus.
This magnificent specimen has gone much further than the old type. For instance, the one that flies leaves the nest when fully grown, not so our second species.
The Wingless Cuckoo, so called because it never flies from the nest, has a neat racket.
The species developed very quickly in the 19th century, out of an earlier kindred type known as the Merchantus Parasitus. There were many intervening centuries between the early appearance of this bird and its fully-fledged descendant.
The Parasitus Capitalismus does not throw the young chicks of the parent birds out of the nest. It is astute enough to know that after the death of its hosts it requires other generations to bring it food.
It claimed the ownership of all the worms and grubs that birds eat. The new Cuckoo then said to the other birds, that is, to the male ones, “If I allow you to collect my worms for me, I shall let you have enough worms to feed you and your family.”
Then came the next bright idea: “If I give the male bird too few worms, then his female mate will also have to collect worms for me. If I work it right then I need only give them the same amount of worms between them and yet have two collecting agents working for me.”
The moral was obvious and was soon extended to the little members of the family.
It is said that after a number of years with many birds collecting for them, some of the Cuckoos used to say, “I came into this nest with no feathers on my back and by sheer hard work I now have an enormous pile of worms.”
Of course they never said whose hard work. Some bird-watchers perceived that the greediness of the Cuckoo was having a bad effect on the other birds. They were being allowed so little, that they were dying pretty quickly.
These bird-watchers realised that if the birds all died, then the Parasitus Capitalismus would soon become extinct itself. So they attempted to warn others of the danger.
Some wrote heart-rending stories of birds asking for more in the workhouse, and such-like tales. You see they did not wish the death of their favourite species.
They were fairly safe in writing stories, because at the time only the Cuckoos and the Cuckoo’s favourite servants could read.
The Cuckoos at last realised that something must be done (or more correctly, some realised and did so well out of it that the others followed suit).
A system called mass-catching was devised whereby each bird did only one operation, one bird with sharp eyes spotted the worms, one with a sharp beak picked them up and a pelican carried them back to the cuckoos’ nest. Yes, by now the nest had become the cuckoos’ and not the tenants’ property.
Thus they were able to leave the younger generation and yet still get more worms.
You might ask what do the other birds get out of this? The answer is as little as will keep them at work hunting or catching or carrying worms and slugs for the Cuckoos.
Then you will probably say, as there are more birds than there are Cuckoos why do they not band together and throw them out of the nest?
Again the answer is a simple one; the majority of them do not yet realise why they work all day and yet get precious few worms. They have not tumbled to it. When they do find out, they will know what to do.
A few of them have already done so, and are busy spreading the news abroad. What they need is the help of all you other bird lovers; so come on, lend a claw, and help us abolish Cuckooism.
J.J.S.