cue 



cue 



events which might take place. He soon, 

 with extreme surprise, saw the young 

 cuckow, born only the day before, ex- 

 erting itself with its rump and wings to 

 take the young sparrow on its back, 

 which it actually accomplished, and then 

 climbed backwards with its burden to the 

 verge of the nest, from which, with a 

 sudden jerk, it clearly threw off its load ; 

 after which it dropped back into the 

 nest, having first, however, felt about 

 with tlie extremities of its wings, as if to 

 ascertain whether the clearance were 

 completely effected. Several eggs were 

 afterwards put in to the young usurper, 

 which were all similarly disposed of. He 

 observes, that in another instance, two 

 cuckows and a hedge-sparrow were 

 hatched in the same nest, and one hedge- 

 sparrow's egg remained unhatched. 

 Within a few hours a conflict began be- 

 tween the two cuckows for the posses- 

 sion of the nest, which was conducted 

 with extreme spirit and vigour, and in 

 which each appeared occasionally to 

 have the advantage, lifting its adversary 

 to the very brink of the nest, and then, 

 from exhaustion of strength, sinking with 

 it again to the bottom. These vicissi- 

 tudes of success were repeated and re- 

 iterated, but towards the close of the fol- 

 lowing day, the contest was decided in 

 favour of the bird which was rather the 

 larger of the two, who completely expel- 

 led his rival; after which the egg and 

 the young hedge-sparrow were dislodg- 

 ed with extreme facility. The infant 

 conqueror was brought up by the step- 

 mother with the most assiduous affec- 

 tion. The sagacity of the female cuckow 

 appears not inconsiderable, in her intro- 

 ducing her egg into the nests of birds 

 whose young are inferior in size and 

 strength to the ^oung cuckow, and 

 which the latter is consequently able 

 to exclude without difficulty from its 

 usurped dominions. See AVES, Plate VI. 

 % 1. 



C. Indicator, or the Honey -guide. This 

 is an inhabitant of the interior of Africa, 

 and is supposed to feed principally upon 

 honey ; it is at least extremely fond of it, 

 and possesses an extraordinary sagacity 

 in discovering where it is to be found. 

 The Dutch farmers and Hottentots near 

 the Cape are reported to derive essential 

 service from this bird. They imitate its 

 peculiar sounds in the morning or even- 

 ing, before it goes to feed, till they at 

 length get within hearing and sightof it; 

 and when it moves off to its repast, they 



follow, as correctly as they are able, the 

 direction of its flight, and scarcely ever 

 fail to arrive at some store of wild honey, 

 of which, it is added, they make a liberal 

 allowance to their little guide. It is cer- 

 tain, however, that these people have an 

 extreme regard, and almost veneration 

 for this bird, founded on its utility; and 

 the curiosity of the celebrated Dr. Sparr- 

 man was not gratified by the destruction 

 of one, as a specimen for his collections, 

 without exciting high resentment and 

 disdain. 



CUCUMIS, in botany, a genus of the 

 Monoecia Syngenesia class and order. 

 Natural order of Cucurbitaceae. Essen- 

 tial character : calyx five-toothed ; co- 

 rolla five-parted. Male, filaments three. 

 Female, pistil three-cleft ; pome with ar- 

 gute seeds. There are thirteen species. 

 These are all annual plants, with herba- 

 ceous scandent stems. C. sativus, com- 

 mon cucumber, generally cultivated for 

 the tables, is so well known, as not to re- 

 quire a particular description. C. melo, 

 common or musk melon, belongs to this 

 genus. There is a great variety of this 

 fruit cultivated in this country, especially 

 by those who supply the markets, where 

 their size is chiefly regarded, so that by 

 endeavouring to increase their bulk, the 

 fruit becomes of little value. For a par- 

 ticular and elaborate description of this 

 genus, the reader may consult Martyn's 

 excellent edition of Millar's Dictionary. 



CUCURBITA, in botany, a genus of 

 the Monoecia Syngenesia class and order. 

 Natural order of Cucurbitacex. Essen- 

 tial character : calyx five -toothed ; corolla 

 five-cleft. Male, filaments three. Fe- 

 male, pistils five-cleft ; seeds of the pome 

 with a swelling margin. There are seven 

 species. The plants of this genus are 

 very nearly allied to those of cucumis, 

 and are distinguished from it chiefly by 

 the swelling rim of the seed. Like them 

 they are annual, with trailing herbaceous 

 stems, furnished with tendrils for climb- 

 ing- 



CUCURBIT \CJE, in botany, the name 

 of the thirty-fourth order in Linnxus's 

 fragments of a natural method, consisting 

 of plants which resemble the gourd in 

 external figure, habit, virtues, and sensi- 

 ble qualities. These arc divided into two 

 sections. 1. Those with hermaphrodite 

 flowers, as the passion flower. 2. Those 

 with male and female flowers, produced 

 either on the same or distinct roots, as the 

 cucumber, &c. In these the male flow* 

 crs are generally separated from the fe- 



