Beloved as a herald of spring, cuckoos have held a place in our hearts for centuries. But for many other birds the cuckoo is a signal of doom, for it is nature`s most notorious cheat. In this enormously engaging book, naturalist and scientist Nick Davies reveals how cuckoos deceive other species, uncovering an evolutionary race between cuckoos and the hosts. Cuckoo offers a new insight not only into the secret lives of these extraordinary birds, but also how cheating evolves and thrives in the natural world.