A:i-J/t 



OUDEll SCANSORES. OOO 



necessity prescribes, it feels no desire of reproduction, and the 

 song of love, which its name expresses, is never heard. It is 

 doubtless with this species as with the greater number of 

 others ; it is the business of propagation which causes it to 

 isolate ; for these solitary birds have been observed in the 

 course of July to assemble in little flocks of from ten to 

 twelve, young and old, just at the epoch when the cessation 

 of their song marks the close of the season of their amours. 



On the ground, the cuckows proceed only by hops ; but 

 they seldom remain there, which must be attributed to the 

 extreme shortness of their legs and thighs ; when young they 

 scarcely use their feet at all for walking. They employ their 

 bill in drawing themselves onward on their belly, much in 

 the same way in which the parrots use it in climbing ; when 

 they climb, it may be remarked, that the external hinder toe 

 is turned forward, but that it is of less use than the two front 

 ones. In their progressive movements, they agitate the 

 wings, as if to assist their progress. 



The ordinary song of the cuckow is too well known to need 

 description. It appertains to the male exclusively, and is 

 never heard but in spring ; sometimes when the bird is 

 perched on a dry branch, and sometimes when he is flying. 

 Another and a more sonorous sound is heard when the males 

 and females are reciprocally seeking and pvu'suing each other. 



In the fall of the year the adult cuckows are very fat, and 

 good for eating ; on their first arrival among us, they are so 

 thin as to have given rise to a proverb on the subject. The 

 young, taken when just ready to fly, is also said to be a 

 delicate morsel. The ancients held their flesh in high esti- 

 mation, as also do the modern Italians. In some countries, 

 the cuckow is regarded as a bird of ill-omen, and revered in 

 others as a presage of good, and an oracle of wisdom. 



In medicine, the flesh of the cuckow has been described as 

 producing the most salutary effects in cases of epilepsy, gout, 

 stone, intermittent fevers, and colic. Its dung has been sup- 



