Ging? ©? UU) Ci'K? 0. OC, 
foon fo fuperior. This want in the cuckoo of 
the common attention other birds have to their 
youne, feems to arife from fome defect in its 
make, that difables it from incubation; but what 
that is, we confefs ourfelves ignorant, referring the 
inquiry to fome fkilful anatomift. A friend tells 
me that the ftomach is uncommonly large, even 
fo as to reach almoft to the vent: may not the 
preffure of that in a fitting pofture, prevent incu- 
bation ? 
This bird has been ridiculoufly believed to change 
into a hawk, and to devour its nurfe on quitting 
the neft, whence the French proverb ingrat comme 
un couco¥. But it is not carnivorous, feeding only 
on worms and infects: it grows very fat, and is 
faid to be as good eating as a land rail. The 
French and Italians eat them to this day. The Ro- 
mans admired them greatly as a food: Plhny* 
fays, that there is no bird to compare with them for 
delicacy. | 
The weight of the eee is a little more than 
five ounces ; the length is fourteen inches ; breadth 
twenty-five. The bill black, very ftrong, a little 
incurvated, and about two-thirds of an inch lone. 
The irides yellow. The head, hind part of the 
neck, the coverts of the wings, and the rump are 
of a dove color; darker on the head and paler on 
the rump. The throat and upper part of the 
* Lib. Or Ae 
R2 neck 
235 
DeEscrip, 
