THE CUCKOO 
its own folk have ceased from singing by the 
time it is out of the nest. A good deal has 
been written about the way in which the 
note varies, chiefly in the direction of greater 
harshness and a more staccato and less 
sustained note, towards the end of the 
cuckoo's stay. According to the rustic rhyme, 
it changes its tune in June, which is probably 
poetic licence rather than the fruits of actual 
observation. It is, however, commonly agreed 
that the cuckoo is less often heard as the 
time of its departure draws near, and the 
easiest explanation of its silence, once the 
breeding season is ended, is that the note, 
being the love-call of a polygamous bird, is 
no longer needed. 
In Australia the female cuckoo is hand- 
somely barred with white, whereas the male 
is uniformly black ; but with our bird it is 
exceedingly difficult to distinguish one sex 
from the other on the wing, and, were it not 
for occasional evidence of females having been 
shot when actually calling, we might still 
believe that it is the male only that makes 
this sound. The note is joyous only in the 
poet's fancy, just as he has also read sadness 
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