The Birds of the Assyrian Monuments and Records. 71 
(11.) The Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) was known to the 
Assyrians by the names of khu-U-ku Z^]]^ £T^C~<) and 
hha-zu-u ^^"If ^TIT^)> ^ e ^ riS ^ name * s imitative of 
the well-known note of the bird ; the second name I refer to 
the Hebrew khozeh (Hth), a " prophet," in allusion to the 
periodic returns of this bird to the countries which it visits, 
as being the foreteller or announcer of Spring and refreshing 
warm showers, as I have already mentioned ; so the swallow 
or swift was also the proclaimer (nabu) of returning warmth. 
The Accadian expression SU LU (^Ef ESf-S) "hand," and 
"man," refers to the form, more or less prehensile, of the 
cuckoo's foot. 1 The cuckoo is a migratory bird in Palestine, 
Syria, and Mesopotamia, and in the northern parts of Persia, 
but in southern Persia it is probably resident during the winter 
mouths. The great spotted cuckoo (Coccystes glandarius) 
occurs also, sometimes extremely abundantly, in these 
countries. 
(12.) The nam-bu-ub-tuv (^f^ £^ £^T|= ) or 
a-dam-mu-mu (Jy t^"£*~T >^ is referred by Dr. Delitzsch 
to the lapwing or peewit (Vanellus cristatus). The former is 
probably an imitative word, and may be compared with the 
Arabic nabaha (^jo), "to bark," a root which has given use 
to sounds produced by various animals, as the lion, dog, and 
stag. Certainly, the word nambub is not a bad imitation of 
the noise produced by the lapwing, as it strikes its wings 
together during the breeding season when disturbed, causing 
the well-known thud or dull hollow sound which every one 
must have frequently observed. The second name of 
a-dam-mu-mu may be compared with the Hebrew feminine 
adjective adummdh (HOT^), "ruddy," root DISl " to be red"; 
compare the pdrdli adummdh, "red heifer" of Numb, xix, 2, or 
the ius ddam, "bay horse" of Zech. i, 8. Although the 
lapwing cannot be called a red bird, the Assyrian word may 
1 The cuckoos are zygodactylous birds, with broad and flat toes, which are 
arranged in pairs, two before and two behind, formed for grasping a branch 
firmly, though not like the woodpeckers, adapted for climbing ; the outer toe is 
reversible, so as with the first to oppose the rest in grasping : hence from the 
grasping powers the foot suggested to the Accadians "The Man's Hand Bird*" 
