Cuckoo

The Cuckoo in Ancient Egypt

The Great Spotted Cuckoo, Common Cuckoo, and the Senegal Cougal were very rare in ancient Egypt. A Great Spotted Cuckoo was pictured in Tuthmosis III's "botanical garden" full of exotics. The bird is next to a nest of eggs, the only bird in the garden to be pictured this way, suggesting that the ancient Egyptians were aware of its parasitic egg-laying.

The Birds of Ancient Egypt