Nicholas B. Davies

Simply brilliant. I heard Nick Davies talking about cuckoos at Niddfest (a wonderful literary festival based in Nidderdale celebrating nature in writing), and this is where I bought the book. I'm not a scientist, but the story of how observers and scientists of various kinds have pieced together the story of the cuckoo is a fascinating one. So is the account of how cuckoos, their offsprings' inadvertent nurse-maids, and various other creatures who assume similar behaviour patterns, play out their lives. I was left with a great respect not only for the poor duped hosts, but for the cuckoo itself: its lifestyle, its long annual journey to and from Africa is hardly easy. I've learned a huge amount since the day when my interest was sparked by watching an enormous, though only half-grown cuckoo, being fed by its foster-mother, a rather small meadow pipit.… (more)