-$S6 € U C K O W. 



they fwallow head foremoft, letting the tail hang out of the 

 mouth till the fore parts are digefted. This bird, it is moft 

 likely, might be eafily tamed, as it is fo gentle as to fuffer the 

 negro children to catch it with their hands. Its gait is that of 

 leaping, like a Magpie, frequently being feen on the ground ; and 

 its flight but fhort, chiefly from bufh to bufh. At the time 

 when other birds breed, they Iikewife retire into the woods, but 

 their nefts have never yet been found ; from which one fhould be 

 inclined to think, that they were indebted to other birds for the 

 rearing their young, in the manner of the common Cuckow. It 

 has the name of Rain-bird, as it is faid to make the greateft 

 nolle before rain. Common all the year at Jamaica. 



33- 



Cuculus vetula, tin. Syjl. 1. p. 169. N° 4. 

 JtAlN Le Coucou de la Jamaique, Brif.wn.br. p. 114. N° 4. 



C ditle Vieillard, ou I'Oifeau de Pluie, Buf. oif. vi. p. 398. 



An Old Man, or Rain-bird, Rati Syn. p. 182. N° 12. — Sloan. Jam. p. 312. 

 N° 52. p. 258. f. I. — Brown. Jam. p. 476. 



.©isscRjpTiON. COMEWHAT lefs than a Blackbird : length from fifteen to Se- 

 venteen inches. Bill an. inch long: the upper mandible 

 black, the under whitiih : the top of the head is covered with, 

 downy foft feathers of a deep brown : the reft of the upper part 

 of the body, the wings, and two middle tail feathers, cinereous 

 olive : the throat and fore part of the neck are white ; which, 

 efpecially that on the throat, appears like a downy beard*: the 

 .breaft, and the reft of the under parts of the body rufous : all the 

 tail feathers, except the two middle ones, are black, tipped with 



* Whence, perhaps, the name of Old Man. 



white, 



