Notes of the Cuckoo. 299 



by Mr. Jennings in our II. 111., "has dissected many cuckoos ; 

 and he says that the stomach is similar in structure to the 

 woodpecker's, and, therefore, fitted for the digestion of animal 

 food only ; that the contents of the stomach invariably indi- 

 cate the presence of such food, namely, the larvae of some 

 insects." Mr. Jennings has thought that the cuckoo climbs 

 about the trees which it frequents, and obtains its food from 

 them. The late Rev. L. Guilding had written the following 

 remark in relation to Mr. Jennings's opinion : — "The [adult] 

 cuckoo doubtless obtains its food on trees. As far as I can 

 recollect, caterpillars are always found in its stomach on dis- 

 section. I have frequently shot the old birds about Oxford, 

 and opened them. Preparations of the stomach in spirit, 

 made by me, were given, for the Theatre of Anatomy at 

 Christ Church, to my early friend and preceptor, Dr. Kidd. 

 The internal coat is lined with a velvet down, a peculiarity 

 not observable in other birds I have dissected." — Lansdown 

 Guilding. St. Vincent, May 1. 1830. 



H. N. has stated, in IV. 270., that the cuckoo " feeds upon 

 the ground at times;" but he has not stated upon what 

 objects. 



The Age of the Cuckoo on its first uttering perfectly the Note 

 proper to the Species. — Two facts, not wholly useless in rela- 

 tion to this point, are given in II. 243., and VIII. 283. 



The Cuckoo uses two very distinct Notes ; 1st, that which re- 

 sembles its name : this it varies by " sometimes repeating the 

 first syllable two or three times." (H. N. in IV. 270.) In 

 note * in p. 256. of the present Number, it is contended that 

 spelling this bird's name cu-coo, instead of cuckoo, would be 

 more consonant with the note uttered by the bird. 2dly, A 

 kind of chatter, like that of the blackbird, but much louder 

 and stronger. (H. N. in IV. 270.) This second note has been 

 noticed in greater detail by Mr. Main in IV. 415. note *; 

 whose description we shall here reprint for the sake of unity, 

 and of placing it more pointedly under attention. ". . . . The 

 cuckoo, male or female, I know not which, has another note, 

 as distinct from the common one as two sounds can well be, 

 and which I never remember to have seen noticed by any 

 writer. [It had been by H. N. in the words quoted above.] 

 This other note is chiefly given when the bird is seated on 

 the top of a tree. It is a loud, liquid, guttural, quickly 

 shaken note, somewhere about A in alt. It is but seldom 

 heard, and does not appear to be a response to the common 

 call." We have heard this note, and think it a not uncheer- 

 ing one. If we recollect rightly, we have witnessed it to be 

 uttered just before the cuckoo takes flight off a tree, or even 



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