by William Swainson, Zoological Illustrations Series II… (1829)
“ Le Vaillant mentions having found a young bird of the Criard Cuckoo, in the pigmy nest of this little species, which had already grown to the size of a thrush: it not only filled the nest, but actually enlarged and destroyed its original shape. Yet still did the foster parents, by a most extraordinary instinct, go on feeding this overgrown parasite, although it was even then more than double the size of themselves. Our figure is of the natural size of the male; the female is without the black collar. ”
