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expression of reproach among the popu- 
lace in Scotland.) Our " immortal Bard" 
among many other allusions has the fol- 
lowing. 
"The plain-song Cuckoo grey, 
Whose note full many a man doth mark, 
And dares not answer nay." 
The female makes only a chattering 
noise, which may in some measure account 
for the few specimens of that sex to be 
found in collections; for as the note of the 
male discovers his retreat to the sportsman, 
so the female is secured by her silence. 
Cuckows never pair. The male generally 
gives the call to love when perched on 
some dead tree or bare bough, at which 
time it drops its head very low, and swells 
its throat, and it appears very likely that 
Providence has formed its feet in the 
peculiar manner it has done, that it may 
support itself from losing its equilibrium, 
and not for the purpose of climbing in the 
manner of the woodpeckers, as is generally 
supposed. We are fully persuaded of the 
truth of this remark, because from speci- 
mens of the young which we have had in 
