446 
CUCKOO. 
the hole, and, thrusting in their hands, first they 
pulled out nothing but feathers ; afterwards they 
got hold of a living animal ; and this was the cuc- 
koo that had waked so very opportunely for its own 
safety. It was, indeed,” continues our historian, 
“ brisk and lively, but wholly naked and bare of 
feathers, and without any winter provision in its 
hole.” 
The story further says, that the boys kept this 
cuckoo alive in the stove for two years after this 
event ; but whether it repaid them with a second 
song, the author of the tale has not thought fit to 
inform us. 
It is well known that the moulting of the cuckoo 
is slower and more complete than most other birds, 
and we have the authority of Buflfon for saying that 
in the winter season they are found in the hollow 
trees perfectly naked. 
The vulgar notion respecting the saliva of the 
cuckoo, which is at certain times found on almost 
every plant, is without the smallest foundation, and 
originates in the frothy exudation of an insect, the 
cicada spumaria Linn., which is evacuated on bram- 
bles, grass stalks, &c., for the purpose of conceal- 
ing the larvae. We are gravely told that the little 
green insect which inhabits this froth, or cuckoo 
spittle as it is termed, is able to kill the cuckoo by 
pricking it beneath the wing. 
The antient mythologists have assigned this bird 
an office which seems much better calculated for the 
dove than the cuckoo. They tell us that Jupiter 
