Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature - Tapa dura

This amazing detective story by one of the country's greatest field naturalists is also a fascinating study that solves many of the puzzles surrounding this most extraordinary bird (Sir David Attenborough)

A new book tells in mesmerising detail how the host birds are first outwitted by the female cuckoo, and then by the cuckoo chick ... A riveting account not only of how the cuckoo evolves deceptive stratagems, such as eggs which mimic the eggs of the host, but also of how the host birds evolve defences, such as learning to reject any eggs which seems slightly different from their own. This is in effect an "evolutionary arms race" and its complexities are elucidated with exemplary clarity and humour by Professor Davies . An even more fascinating take on curious behaviour ... It's a terrific read (Mike McCarthy, Independent)

Beguiling . The tale features astonishing insights into the processes of both evolution and scientific research, and it beguiles because of Davies' plain, personable style and his relating of his own experiments . the reader is taken nest-hunting, fake-egg planting and landscape-gazing. Rich, tactile description is lightly burnished with the poetic while illustrations by watercolourist James McCallum complete a package that will suit both dedicated twitcher and armchair naturalist alike, and gives springtime's feathered friend and fiend a fair hearing at last (Richard Benson, Independent)

Fascinating piece of natural-history detective work ... Davies is a hugely knowledgeable and readable guide, whose reasoning is often fascinating . This is a fine and involving book, whose insights - wrung from decades of hard graft and constant questioning - make you wonder again at nature's extraordinary ingenuity (Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times)

The character of the writer barely intrudes and the real subject, picked apart in meticulous detail, is nature itself. In the hands of a scholar who is also a first-rate story teller, you realise just how entertaining such a work can be. Nick Davies's Cuckoo is a model of that genre - part gripping detective story, part evocation of place and season, but also a glorious reminder of the sheer wonder of our planet and all its strange life forms. Yet it is hard to imagine a more fascinating theme . If we were less concerned with tooth rot and more devoted to life on planet Earth this would surely be a better place. Certainly it seems a more extraordinary and filled with wonder after reading Davies's outstanding book' (Mark Cocker, Spectator)

This book is living proof that careful observation, allied to an enquiring mind, can achieve ground-breaking results . This is science of the highest order; but more importantly still, it has been rendered into clear, readable prose, which non-scientists such as myself can easily understand. Beautiful illustrations by the Norfolk artist James McCallum add to the book's appeal . Davies's enthusiasm is utterly infectious . His prose ranks among the best nature writing, fuelled by a lifetime's passion for this place and one compelling species of bird (Stephen Moss, Guardian)

Learning about cuckoos from him is like being taken on an old-fashioned nature ramble with a particularly well-informed uncle . In fact it's more like a gripping detective story in which there isn't just a single body but multiple corpses . Davies's book is positively chirruping with fascinating information like this . Nature writing is currently having a bit of a moment. There are murmurs, though, that the overly poetic style that some writers are adopting is getting in the way of actual facts. Refreshingly, this isn't the case with Davies. Although he gives us some lovely descriptions of the Fens, which is where he mostly does his field work, he is aware that his primary task is to tell us things rather than show off. Consequently, he uses words to explain and enlighten rather than to embellish. The result is a fascinating book, even if, in its own way, it has all the qualities of a particularly horrible nightmare (Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday)

Charming . Reveals how Wicken's reed warblers are locked in an evolutionary arms race in The Fens with the female cuckoo (Daily Express)

Skilfully, he has combined science and anecdote to piece together the lifecycle of the common cuckoo, which, at this time of year, is about to return from Africa. We can only admire the patience and fastidious fieldcraft with which he has compiled such a thorough assessment of one of Nature's most notorious fraudsters (Country Life)

Davies underpins calm and elegant prose with deep knowledge gleaned from years studying the species. By the end of the book, it is hard not to feel the same joy as Davies does when contemplating this remarkable bird, or the same sadness at its apparent UK decline (Daniel Cressey, Nature)