CHAPTER XVI 
sundry observations: on call notes and 
FEEDING 
Call Notes 
There have always been discussion and disagree- 
ment on the various notes of Cuckoos. Several 
naturalists hold that the familiar “ cuck-oo ” call 
is used by both sexes, and also that the male can 
make use of the equally characteristic, but not so 
well-known, call of the female. 
I am quite sure, from having constantly kept 
a daily watch on Cuckoos for the last four years, 
that the hen Cuckoo does not utter the “ cuck-oo ” 
note. Except on rare occasions it is impracticable 
to distinguish the sexes in the field by appearance 
alone, and the fact that more than one male is 
frequently in attendance upon the female adds to 
the difficulty of coming to a definite conclusion in 
the matter. But since ours was so close a watch 
we learnt to distinguish the female by her actions 
and habits, and at the end of the fourth season 
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