the CUCKOW, in ornithology, a genus belonging to the order of piex. This singular bird appears in our country early in the spring, and makes the shortest stay with us of any bird of passage; it is compelled here, as Mr Stillingfleet observes, by that constitution of the air which causes the fig-tree put forth its fruit. It is very probable that these birds, or at least part of them, do not quit this island during the winter; but that they seek shelter in hollow trees and lie torpid, unless animated by unusually warm weather. Mr Pennant gives two instances of their being heard in February; one in 1771, in the end of that month; the other in 1769, on the 4th day; but after that, they were heard no more, being probably chilled again into torpidity. There is a remarkable coincidence between the song of these birds and the mackerel's continuing in full roe; that is, from about the middle of April to the latter end of June. The cuckow is silent for some time after his arrival; his note is a call to love, and used only by the male; who sits perched generally on some dead tree or bare bough, and repeats his song, which he loses as soon as the amorous season is over. His note is so uniform, that his name in all languages seems to have been deri- ved from it; and in all countries it is used in the same reproachful sense:

The plain-fong cuckoo grey, Whole note full many a man doth mark, And dares not answer nay.

Shakespeare.

The reproach seems to arise from the cuckoo's making use of the bed or nest of another to deposit its eggs in, leaving the care of its young to an improper parent; but Juvenal with more justice gives the infamy to the bird in whose nest the supposititious eggs were laid:

Tu tibi tune corruca places.

A water-wagtail, a yellow-hammer, or hedge-sparrow, is generally the nurse of the young cuckoos; who if they happen to be hatched at the same time with the genuine offspring, quickly destroy them by over-laying them, as their growth is soon to greatly superior. The reason of this seeming want of natural affection in the cuckoo, hath been long a question. It seems most probably to arise from the difference between the situation of the stomach in the cuckoo and in other birds. The stomach of birds is situated quite in a different manner from what it is in other animals; being almost joined to the back, secured by the bones of the reins, and covered before by the intestines, behind which it lies securely defended and concealed. This situation affords them a great facility and security of sitting on their eggs and young; since the parts which lie immediately upon them are soft, warm, and pliable, and without danger from the compression, which would be hazardous, if the weight of a large and full stomach was to rest upon them, as in the very case of the cuckoo. Besides, this singular structure secures a warm covering to the egg in hatching, and to the young as soon as hatched; for their tender stomachs being defended from the impression of the cold air by a thin bone or cartilage only, would soon lose the warmth necessary to digestion, if it were not supplied by the incubation of the mother from time to time.

The stomach of a cuckoo, on the contrary, lies far forward, just under the integuments, and actually covers the intestines, the very reverse of what takes place in other birds. The cuckoo's stomach is a large bag of uncommon capacity, adhering by a cellular tissue to all the parts that environ it, reaching all the way from the breast-bone to the vent. From such a structure and situation of the stomach, it naturally follows, that it is as difficult for a cuckoo as it is easy for other birds to sit upon her eggs and young; for the thin membranes of its large stomach charged so long with the weight of its whole body, together with the aliment contained therein, would prove an intolerable compression both to it and its tender young. It also follows from the peculiar structure of this bird, that its young do not stand in need of being covered like those of other birds; their large and capacious stomachs being better secured from cold by means of lying covered under the mass of intestines.

This bird has been ridiculously believed to change into a hawk, and to devour its nurse on quitting the nest; whence the French proverb, "Ingrat comme un coucou." But it feeds on no larger animals than worms and insects. It grows very fat, and is said to be as good eating as a land-rail. The French and Italians eat them to this day. The Romans admired them greatly as a food. Pliny says that there is no bird which can compare with them for delicacy.

The weight of the cuckoo is little more than five ounces: the length 14 inches; the breadth 25. The bill is black, very strong, a little incurvated, and about two thirds of an inch in length. The head, hind part of the neck, coverts of the wings and rump, are of a dove colour; darker on the head, and paler on the rump. The throat and upper part of the neck are of a pale grey; the breast and belly white, crossed elegantly with undulated lines of black. The tail consists of ten feathers of unequal lengths; the two middle are black tipped with white; the others are marked with white spots on each side their shafts. The legs are short; and the toes disposed two backwards, and two forwards, like those of the woodpecker, though it is never observed to run up the sides of trees. The female differs in some respects. The neck before and behind is of a brownish-red; the tail barred with the same colour, and black, and spotted on each side the shaft with white. The young birds are brown mixed with black, and in that state have been described by some authors as old ones.

Linnaeus enumerates no fewer than 22 species of this genus, which inhabit different parts of the globe, and are chiefly distinguished by the shape of the tail, and variations in colour. The most remarkable are,

1. The Americanus, or cuckoo of Carolina. It is about the size of a blackbird; the bill a little hooked and sharp; the upper mandible black, the lower yellow; the large wing-feathers are reddish; the rest of the wings, and all the upper part of the body, head and neck, is of an ash-colour; all the under part of the body, from the bill to the tail, white; the tail long and narrow, composed of six long and four shorter feathers,—the two middlemost ash-coloured, the rest black with their ends white; their legs short and strong, having two back toes, and two before. Their note is very different from the cuckoo of this country, and not so remarkable to be taken notice of. It is a solitary bird, frequenting the darkest recesses of woods and shady thickets. They retire on the approach of winter.

2. The indicator, or honey-guide, is a native of Africa. The following description is given of it by Dr Sparman in the Philosophical Transactions for 1777. "This curious species of cuckoo is found at a considerable distance from the Cape of Good Hope, in the interior parts of Africa, being entirely unknown at that settlement. The first place I heard of it was in a wood called the Groote-vader's Bosch, 'the Grandfather's Wood,' situated in a desert near the river which the Hottentots call T'kant'kai. The Dutch settlers thereabouts have given this bird the name of honigvazer, or 'honey-guide,' from its quality of discovering wild honey to travellers. Its colour has nothing striking or beautiful. Its size is considerably smaller than that of our cuckoo in Europe; but in return, the instinct which prompts it to seek its food in a singular manner is truly admirable. Not only the Dutch and Hottentots, but likewise a species of quadruped named ratel, (probably a new species of badger), are frequently conducted to wild bee-hives by this bird, which, as it were, pilots them to the very spot. The honey honey being its favourite food, its own interest prompts it to be instrumental in robbing the hive, as some scraps are commonly left for its support. The morning and evening are its times of feeding, and it is then heard calling in a shrill tone, cherry, cherry; which the honey-hunters carefully attend to as the summons to the chase. From time to time they answer with a soft whistle; which the bird hearing, always continues its note. As soon as they are in sight of each other, the bird gradually flutters toward the place where the hive is situated, continually repeating its former call of cherry, cherry; nay, if it should happen to have gained a considerable way before the men, (who may easily be hindered in the pursuit by bushes, rivers, or the like), it returns to them again, and redoubles its note, as if to reproach them with their inactivity.

At last the bird is observed to hover for a few moments over a certain spot, and then silently retiring to a neighbouring bush or resting-place, the hunters are sure of finding the bees nestled in that identical spot, whether it be in a tree or in the crevice of a rock, or (as is most commonly the case) in the earth. Whilst the hunters are busy in taking the honey, the bird is seen looking on attentively to what is going forward, and waiting for its share of the spoil. The bee-hunters never fail to leave a small portion for their conductor; but commonly take care not to leave so much as would satisfy its hunger. The bird's appetite being whetted by this parimony, it is obliged to commit a second treason, by discovering another bee's nest, in hopes of a better salary. It is further observed, that the nearer the bird approaches the hidden hive, the more frequently it repeats its call, and seems the more impatient.

"I have had frequent opportunities of seeing this bird, and have been witness to the destruction of several republics of bees by means of its treachery. I had, however, but two opportunities of shooting it, which I did to the great indignation of my Hottentots. It is about seven inches in length, and is of a rusty brown colour on the back, with a white breast and belly." See Plate LXXXVI.