File:Birds and nature in natural colors - being a scientific and popular treatise on four hundred birds of the United States and Canada (1913) (14568590680).jpg

Identifier: birdsnatureinnat02chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature in natural colors : being a scientific and popular treatise on four hundred birds of the United States and Canada
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds -- North America
Publisher: Chicago : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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y far. for as I continued along the path, fromthe distance there came to my ears the faint murmuring cow, cow, cow of thesad, mysterious bird. The Cuckoo always leads a mournful, secluded life. If we chance to seeit at any time while it is with us, from May to October, it will most probably beobserved silently slipping from the cover of one tree or thicket to that of another,generally alone, and frequently uttering the harsh guttural note from which ithas long since acquired the name Rain Crow. I never have understood whyit should be called a Crow, however. Certainly it does not resemble the Crowsin our country either in voice, appearance or manner of life. The Cuckoo is often heard calling on cloudy days, or just before rains, andfor this reason it is usually accredited with the power of foretelling the comingshower. It cannot sing; but it has some notes peculiarly its own which, onceheard, are not easily forgotten. Tut-tut, tut-tut, it seems to say cl-uck—cl-uck,cow, cow, cow. 326
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In Europe there is also a bird called the Cuckoo. It is larger than our birdby that name and, besides, is a very pretty singer. It is not shy; so a great manypeople are acquainted with its habits. It was well known when the Bible waswritten and you can find its name in the list of animals which the Children ofIsrael were forbidden to eat. Shakespeare, in one of his plays, tells us about theCuckoos young. Some of the English poets speak of its singing. Of all the tales told of the English birds, the one relating to the nestinghabits of the Cuckoo must reflect the least credit on the accused. In the spring when nesting time for birds arrives, it does not build a nestfor itself, but quietly steals away and deposits its eggs secretly in the nests ofother birds. There the eggs are incubated and the young are reared by thefoster parents. While the Cuckoo thus saves itself the labor of building a nestand the anxiety of caring for the )0ung, it has gained an unpleasant notoriety,possessed by

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