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Is there any bird more mysterious than the cuckoo?

It is invariably heard, and not seen. And if seen, it is mistaken for a sharp-winged hawk. The female cuckoo - by a trick that borders on alchemy - is able to disguise its egg as another''s. In Greek myth the god Zeus assumed the form of a cuckoo to seduce Hera.

But we forgive the cuckoo its con-artistry, because it is the true herald of spring. It is the bird that uplifts our wintered hearts, with that first two-note ''cuk-koo'' unmistakable as it sounds across the country.

In The Curious Life of the Cuckoo, John Lewis-Stempel explains one of nature''s greatest enigmas in vivid, lyrical prose, and celebrates this iconic bird.

‘Britain''s finest living nature writer’ – The Times

© John Lewis-Stempel 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025