qofdnz's review
3.0
Started great but often became too full of facts about experiments which were much less interesting to your general bird enthusiast. I was looking for more of a story.
ashleyjapan's review
3.0
First off, I'm impressed that I managed to finish this book. I consider it a testament to the content and writing, that I actually enjoyed reading this book about cuckoos - a bird which before now I was wholly uninterested in. I picked this up from the library's new acquisitions page as a way to get in touch with that biology minor I'm not using at all right now, and I am pleased to say that it was worth the read. While there is more than just a touch of Cambridge pretentiousness sprinkled through the book, Davies made me wish I was sitting in a cabin in the woods or a cottage in the English countryside on a sunny day, listening to the sounds of nature as I slowly made my way through this book. It was immersive and compelling, but unfortunately a bit of a mismatch for my current pace of life. My only regret in picking up this book is that I didn't find it during my holidays instead of during a busy work week.
silverthane's review
3.0
One of my favourite pastimes is bird watching but I haven't read many books about them. I'm not particularly scientific but I thought this book looked very interesting.
I've never seen or heard a cuckoo before but they are an intriguing bird; a parasite race who lay their eggs in the nests of birds belonging to other species.
It was very interesting to learn more about how the cuckoo is such a successful parasite and how the process of evolution helped both the cuckoo and their victims adapt to try to counter and counteract each others techniques.
My only criticism is that the book is marketed as a general non-fiction book about cuckoos but, in fact, I would describe it more as a science book first and foremost with the author, a leading bird field researcher, going into quite a lot of, sometimes tedious, detail about his research and results.
Despite being a little 'science heavy' at times I did generally enjoy the book and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who likes birds. I guarantee you will learn a lot!
I've never seen or heard a cuckoo before but they are an intriguing bird; a parasite race who lay their eggs in the nests of birds belonging to other species.
It was very interesting to learn more about how the cuckoo is such a successful parasite and how the process of evolution helped both the cuckoo and their victims adapt to try to counter and counteract each others techniques.
My only criticism is that the book is marketed as a general non-fiction book about cuckoos but, in fact, I would describe it more as a science book first and foremost with the author, a leading bird field researcher, going into quite a lot of, sometimes tedious, detail about his research and results.
Despite being a little 'science heavy' at times I did generally enjoy the book and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who likes birds. I guarantee you will learn a lot!
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