cue 
k. Cucujus depreffus, the fiat cucujus. Length fix or 
feven lines, but fo comprefled as to be hardly one line in 
thicknefs. The head, corfelet, and elytra, are blood red ; 
the anterior part of the belly is red in the middle between 
the hind legs, but the tides and the five lafi rings are 
black; as are the eyes, lip, points of the mandibles, the 
antennae, and tegs, except the lafi: articulation of the 
-tarfus. The head is thick, flat, triangular like a (hovel, 
broader backwards than the corfelet. The eyes are quite 
at the Tides. The antennae are much before them, and 
rough ; the firft articulation is the largeft, the fecond 
the linalleft; the lafi oval and pointed ; they are all hairy. 
There are fome dents in the lip. The neck is railed, and 
narrower than the corfelet, which is flat, orbicular, and 
marked with four fmall furrows, and fo obfeurely fer- 
rated as not to be vifible to the naked eye. The elytra 
are much comprefled, of equal fize, and appearing finooth 
to the eye, but under the microfcope a grain like that of 
leather is difcoverecL The future is raifed; the outer 
rims double or channelled. The efcutcheon is fmall and 
rounded. The thighs are thickilh ; the tarfus has four 
articulations, ending in a double claw. This infedfi being 
continually under the bark of trees, it is to be prefumed 
that its larvae, hitherto unknown, is deftruflive to wood. 
■z. Cucujus caeruleus, the blue cucujus. This differs 
from the preceding in being fomewhat raifed or rounded 
on the upper furface, though it is ftill much comprefled. 
Length-from four to fix lines, thicknefs lefs than a line. 
Found under the bark of the willow-tree. The blue co¬ 
lour of the elytra, whence the name, has often a purple 
caft. The head is black, much protruded, and on a right 
line with the body ; it narrows a little behind the eyes, 
which are black ; the throat and corfelet are black alfo ; 
the belly dark orange. Of the other fpecies very little 
is known. 
CUCULLA'NUS, f. in zoology, a genus of worms 
belonging to the order of ir.teftinae, the characters of 
which are as follow : body (harp, pointed behind and ob- 
tufe before ; mouth orbicular, with a ftriate hood. Thefe 
are nioft of them viviporous, and generally inteftinal. 
Dr. Gmelin enumerates eight fpecies, moftly very fmall, 
which were found to inhabit the inteftines of the mole, 
moufe, buzzard, frog, eel, perch, falmon, trout, ruff, 
and cod-fifli. 
CUCUL'I.ARIA, f. in botany. See Valentia. 
CU'CULLATE, or Cucullatf.d, adj. [cucullatus, 
hooded, Lat.] Hooded; covered, as with a hood or cowl. 
Having the refemblance or fhape of a hood.—They are 
differently cucullated, and capuched upon the head and 
back. Brown. 
CU'CULUS, the Cuckoo, f. in ornithology, a genus 
of birds belonging to the order of picie the characters 
of which are as follow: bill fomewhat taper: noftrils 
(lightly protuberant at the margin: tongue arrow-fhaped, 
flat, entire : feet fcanfory. This fingular though well- 
known bird feems to be found in almoff all countries. Jt 
is called in Hebrew, according to the different authors, 
kaath, kik, kakik, kakala, fchalac,fchafchaph, /tore, banchem , 
euchem ; in Syriac, coco ; in Greek, xoy.y.v ?,; in Latin, cucu¬ 
lus- in Italian, cuccnlo , cucco, cnco, cucho\ in Spanifti, cue - 
■hllo ; in German, kukkuk, gucker, guggauch, gugckufer ; in 
Flemifh, kockok, kockunt, kockuunt ; in Swediih, gioek ; in 
Norwegian, gouk ; in DaniPn, gioeg-kukert, hub, kukmanden ; 
in Lapponic, grecka ; in old Englifh, and in Scotch, gowk. 
There are fifty-five fpecies now known, befides varieties, 
which are as follow : 
t. Cuculus canoru.s, the common cuckoo: in length 
fourteen inches, in breadth twenty-five. The bill is black, 
and about two-tlfirds of an inch in length. The head, 
hind part of the neck, coverts of the wings, and rump, 
are of a dove-colour; darker on the head and paler on 
the rump. The throat and upper part of the neck are 
®f a pa^ grey ; the bread and belly white, eroded ele¬ 
gantly with undulated lines of black. The tail confifts 
of ten feathers of unequal lengths j the two middle tail. 
CUC 4.01 
feathers are black tipped with white ; the other.-- are 
marked with white fpots on each fide their drafts. 1 he 
legs are fhort; and the toes difpofed two backwards and 
two forwards, like thofe of the woodpecker, though it is 
never obferved to run up the Tides of trees. The female 
differs in fome refpebls. The neck before and behind is 
of a browniffi red; the tail barred with the fame colour 
and black, and fpotted on each fide the draft w,ith white:- 
The young birds are brown mixed with black, very much 
like the hawk, and in that date have been deferibed by 
fome authors as old ones. 
This bird appears in our country early in the fpring, 
and makes the (horteft day with us of any bird of paflage. 
It is compelled here, as Mr. Stillingfieet oblerves, by 
that conftitution of the air which caufes the fig-tree to 
put forth its fruit ; though it has been fuppofed that 
fome of thefe birds do not quit this ifland during the 
winter; but that they feek (lrelter in hollow trees, and 
lie torpid, unlefs animated by unufually warm weather. 
Mr. Pennant gives two inftances of their b ing heard in 
February; one in 1771, in the end of that month ; the 
the other in 1769, on the 4th ; but after that they were 
heard no more, being probably chilled again into tor¬ 
pidity. There is a remarkable coincidence between the 
fong of thefe birds and the mackarels continuing in full 
roe ; that is, from about the middle of -April to the lat¬ 
ter end of June. The cuckoo is filent for fome time af¬ 
ter his arrival; his note is a call to love, and ufed only 
by the male, who fits perched generally on fome dead 
tree or bare bough, and repeats his fong, which he lofes 
as foon as the amorous (eafon is over. His note is fo 
uniform, that his name in all languages feems to have 
been derived from it; and in all countries it is ufed with 
the fame reproachful fenfe : 
The plain-fong cuckoo grey, 
Whofe note full many a man doth mark, 
And dares not anfwer nay. Shakefpeare. 
The reproach feems to arife from the cuckoo’s making 
ufe of the bed or neft of another to depofit its eggs in, 
leaving the care of its young to a ftep-mother, or unna¬ 
tural parent ; but Juvenal, with more juftice, gives the 
infamy to the bird in whofe neff the fuppolititious eggs 
were laid: 
Tu tibi nunc corrucca places. 
A paflage from an Italian author, Gerini, will illuftrate 
the mifapplication of the name cuckoo. “ It lays its egg 
in the neft of the curruca (pettychaps); and hence a fot- 
tifh hu(band, indifferent to the diffionour of his marriage- 
bed and the impofition of fpurious children, has been 
called curruca: and afterwards that name was corrupted-, 
from ignorance into cornuto (horned). Formerly, and 
even at prefent, this word, as well as cuckoo (cuckold), 
is bellowed on a fot, who is infenfible to ftiame.” The 
Latins applied the word cuculus to a hufband who was 
unfaithful to his bed ; and among the Greeks, fit was 
bellowed on thofe caught in any dilgraceful action, or 
on perfons lazy and flothful. In general, the term con¬ 
veyed an imputation of indolence and ftupidity; in which 
fe'nfe it is (till ufed among fome nations in Europe. Silly 
gowk is to this day an exprefiion of reproach among the 
populace in Scotland. On the natural hiftory of this fin¬ 
gular bird, a vaft deal has been written; out of which 
we (hall feleft the 1110ft curious and interefting fades. 
In the age of Ariftotle it was generally laid that no 
one had ever feen the hatch of the cuckoo : it was known 
that this bird lays like the red, but makes no neft ; that 
it drops its egg, (for it feldom depofits two in the fame 
place,) in the nefts of other bird’s, whether larger or 
(mailer than itfelf, fuch as the warblers, the green-finches, 
the larks, the wood-pigeons, &c. that it often fucks the 
eggs which it finds, and leaves its own in their (lead, to 
be hatched by the ftranger; that this ftranger aids the 
part of a tender mother to her fuppofititious brood, fo 
that the young ones become very 'fat, plump, and good 
foods 
