Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



a Welsh, or, for the matter of that, Scandi- 

 navian circumlocution for the typical bird of 

 May, the cuckoo. The cuckoo is slightly 

 hawk-like in appearance, especially when on 

 the wing ; so that there has always been a 

 widespread idea in Europe that cuckoos turn 

 to hawks in August. Now the cuckoo clew 

 here given makes things clear. It was said 

 of Gwalchmei the Good that his strength in- 

 creased till midday and decreased till sunset ; 

 the idea seems borrowed from the sun ; but it 

 may allude to the ceasing of the cuckoo's call 

 in midsummer. 



How persistent the cuckoo idea was in 

 Greece and Italy is seen from the forbidden 

 relationship of the gods already mentioned. 

 From Pausanias we learn that, in order to 

 obtain his sister Hera for his wife, Zeus turned 

 himself into a cuckoo and flew near Hera, 

 who caught and played with him. And while 

 Pausanias protests that he does not believe 

 such tales, he describes a statue of Hera in the 



86 



