Contents

Preface

 

1 A cuckoo in the nest

2 How the cuckoo lays her egg

3 Wicken Fen

4 Harbinger of spring

5 Playing cuckoo

6 An arms race with eggs

7 Signatures and forgeries

8 A cheat in various guises

9 A strange and odious instinct

10 Begging tricks

11 Choosing hosts

12 An entangled bank

13 Cuckoos in decline

14 A changing world

 

Notes to the chapters

Plate Section

Acknowledgements

 

A Note on the Author

A Note on the Illustrator