THE CUCKOO 



legendary literatim- of the subject, endorsed liy ;U least one staiuhinl 

 \\oik. tlu- cuckoo in .him- "elianiM^ time." Tliis statement evidently 

 ivtn-v to the tri-s\llaliir note the rapid, excited cttck-curkroo f and 

 its variations, and i- n>t t xact The noli in ijiiestion is heard in 

 May, and is probahh mi < red 1>\ the male when excited by the 

 presence of the female. 1 



The remaining notes of the cuckoo have yet to be closely studied. 

 The best known is one which may be said to resemble the noise that 

 would be made by a person with a rasping cough trying not to laugh, 

 but with indifferent success ; it sounds something like a rapid hoarse 

 spluttered feuxne-wow-wow, and is one of the most singular noises 

 uttered by any animal. It is frequently heard preceding the " cuckoo." 

 On at least three occasions I have noted it uttered by itself; on the 

 first the bird was flying past alone; on the second, it was being 

 pursued by small birds ; a and on the third it was in company with 

 two others of its own species, one a female. The male has also been 

 heard to utter a hissing note when in pursuit of the hen. s 



A third note, the clear bubbling or laughing sounds, is taken 

 to be that of the female. Whether it is peculiar to her, and whether 

 she ever utters the ordinary " cuckoo," are uncertain. 



In addition to these notes, an individual has been known to 

 utter in captivity "an angry chattering" when repelling the amicable 

 advances of a tame dove. This expression of displeasure was the only 

 note heard from him a bird of the year "excepting on three or 

 four occasions, when he was heard to utter a loud sound like the 

 sharp bark of a little dog." 4 



1 liriti*h Bird*, ii. 197, 240. I have also heard it in May. 



1 With respect to the mobbing of the cuckoo by small birds, the general view is that the 

 cuckoo owes these unpleasant attentions to its resemblance to the sparrow-hawk. In the 

 Zoologist, 1911, 290, Mr. C. B. Moffat pointa out, however, that in Ireland the cuckoo is mobbed 

 inly, as a rule, according to his observation, by meadow-pipits that is, by "the only speciea 

 of bird that in Ireland is commonly victimised or duped by the cuckoo." His view is that the 

 < \x-koo is regarded as an enemy, quite apart from its hawk-like appearance 



' F. C. R. Jourdain (in lift.). 



4 Montagu, Dictionary of Birdt, quoted from the Zoologist, 1844, 855. 



