5A0 AVES—CUCKOO. 
wild bees. It is exceedingly fond of honey and of the bee magguts, and 11s 
services are generally rewarded by leaving it asmall portion of the spoil. In 
its external appearance it differs not much from the common sparrow, except 
m being somewhat larger, and of a lighter color. It hasalso a wate spot on 
each shoulder, and its tail feathers are dashed with white. The morning 
and evening are its principal meal times; at least, it is then that it shows 
the greatest inclination to come forth, and with a grating cry of cherr, cherr, 
cherr, to excite the attention of the ratel, as well as of the Hottentots and 
colonists. Somebody then generally repairs to the place whence the sound 
proceeds; when the bird, continually repeating its cry of cherr, cherr, cherr, 
flies on slowly, and by degrees, towards the quarter where the bees have 
taken up their abode. The persons thus invited,accordingly follow; taking 
care at the same time not to frighten their guide by any unusual noise, but 
rather to answer it now and then with a soft and gentle whistle, by way of 
letting the bird know that its call is attended to. When the bees’ nest is at 
some distance, the bird often makes long stages of flight, waiting for its 
sporting companions between each flight, and calling to them again to come 
on; but flies to shorter distances, and repeats its cry more frequently and 
with more earnestness, as they approach nearer to thenest. When the bird 
has sometimes, through its impatience, got too far ahead of its followers, 
but particularly when, from the unevenness of the ground, they have not 
been able to keep pace with it, it has flown back to meet them, and with 
redoubled cries has denoted still greater impatience, as though reproaching 
them for being so tardy. When it comes to the bees’ nest, whether in the 
cleft of a rock, the hollow of a tree, or a cavity in the earth, it hovers over 
the spot for a few seconds; after which it sits in silence, and for the most 
part concealed, in some neighboring tree or bush, in expectation of what 
may happen, and with a view of receiving its share of the booty. 
THE EUROPEAN CUCKOO 
Tus singular bird is about fourteen inches in length, shaped somewhat 
like a mag vie, and distinguished from all other birds by its round pro- 
minent nostrils. The head, neck, back, and wing-coverts are of a dove 
color; the throat is a pale gray; the breast and belly are white, crossed with 
wavy lines of black; the tail consists of ten feathers; the two middle ones 
black, with white tips; the others dusky, and marked with alternate spots 
of white on each side of the shaft. The legs are of a yellow color, and the 
1 Cuculus canorus, Lin. The genus Cuculus has the bill as long as the head, com- 
pressed, and slightly curved; nostrils hasal, pierced in the margin of the mandible, and 
surrounded bya naked and prominent membrane; legs feathered below the knee; fore 
toes united at the base; hind toes divided, the exterior reversible ; tail long, more or lesg 
graduated ; the third quill feather the longest. 
