BIRDS AND BIRDS. 145 



from the Old World bird, the latter being speckled, 

 or a kind of dominick, while ours is of the finest 

 cinnamon-brown or drab above, and bluish-white be- 

 neath, with a gloss and richness of texture in the 

 plumage that suggests silk. The bird has also 

 mended its manners in this country, and no longer 

 foists its eggs and young upon other birds, but builds 

 a nest of its own and rears its own brood like other 

 well-disposed birds. 



The European cuckoo is evidently much more of 

 a spring bird than ours is, much more a harbinger of 

 the early season. He comes in April, while ours s.el- 

 dom appears before June, and hardly then appears. 

 He is printed, as they say, but not published. Only 

 the alert ones know he is here. This old English 

 rhyme on the cuckoo does not apply this side the 

 Atlantic : 



" In April 



Come he will, 



In flow'ry May 



He sings all day, 



In leafy June 



He changes his tune, 



In bright July 



He 's ready to fly, 



In August 



Go he must." 



Our bird must go in August too, but at no time does 

 he sing all day. Indeed, his peculiar guttural call 

 has none of the character of a song. It is a solitary, 

 hermit-like sound, as if the bird was alone in the 



world, and called upon the fates to witness his desola- 

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