44. The cuckoo is distinguished by its habit of laying its eggs in
the nests of other and smaller birds, such as the hedge-sparrow
(“heggsugg”); and its young, when hatched, throw the eggs or
nestlings of the true parent bird out of the nest, thus engrossing
the mother’s entire care. The crime on which the emerlon
comments so sharply, is explained by the migratory habits of the
cuckoo, which prevent its bringing up its own young; and
nature has provided facilities for the crime, by furnishing the
young bird with a peculiarly strong and broad back, indented by
a hollow in which the sparrow’s egg is lifted till it is thrown out
of the nest.
45. “Who well loves, late forgets;” the refrain of the roundel
inculcates the duty of constancy, which has been imposed on
the three tercels by the decision of the Court.