Cuckoos
Translation details
Model:mistral-large-2512.Translated text
Section titled “Translated text”Cuckoos are birds surrounded by extraordinary sympathy among us. They deserve this widespread sympathy—and even our gratitude—not because they herald spring, but because they protect our forests from destruction. Hairy caterpillars, which devastate woodland trees, roam unpunished, devouring the needles of spruces and firs, for no bird eats these prickly, bristling larvae. Only the cuckoo has developed a taste for these caterpillars, and they have become its exclusive food. As a large bird, it must spend the entire day foraging in the forest to satisfy its hunger. Thus, it has no time to build its own nest or incubate its eggs. Instead, it lays its eggs in the nests of wagtails and other songbirds. From time to time, after the young have hatched, it visits its offspring and likely brings them a delicacy—a hairy caterpillar—to accustom them to the food Providence has destined for cuckoos.
The setting for this game consists of selected exits and intersections of 3—6 streets arranged to form a circle. At each exit or intersection, circles with a radius of 9 steps (nests) are drawn. A scout stands in the circle as the nest-keeper, or young cuckoo, while 2 fledglings, or wagtails, stand outside the circle’s perimeter. The number of nests should not exceed 6, so two or three patrols may participate in the game. If 3 patrols join, one patrol suffices for the cuckoos, and 2 for the wagtails. Cuckoos wear red badges, while wagtails wear blue ones.
The game of cuckoos involves the old cuckoo mother visiting her young cuckoos in their nests, while the quarrelsome wagtails defend the nests against her entry. To signal her success in reaching the nest and feeding her chick a treat, she must take the red badge. If she fails—that is, if the wagtails touch her before she jumps into the nest—the wagtails take the young cuckoo’s badge. (The mother cuckoo also wears a red badge.) Wagtails may only strike the cuckoo outside the circle’s perimeter, i.e., the nest; inside the nest, the cuckoo is safe. Wagtails may not hide in shops or hallways but must remain on the street. After each attack on a nest, successful or not, the wagtails and the young cuckoo report to the judge, while the old cuckoo attempts to reach the next nest. The side that collects the most red badges and delivers them to the judge wins.
Source scan: Polona / National Library, marked “Public Domain”. View scan — page 34.
Metadata
Section titled “Metadata”- Type: game
- Traits: Not stated in the source
- Source: Herman A. Mojmir, Ćwiczenia i zabawy skautowe (1912)
- Printed pages: 22–23
- Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
- Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 22
- Read the source text: ciz-032