Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-09-19
THE CUCKOO.
An Interesting and Instructive Article
About this Wonderful Bird
"cuckoo, Cuckoo, oh, welcome, welcome

An Interesting and Instructive Article I
About this Wonderful Bird
"cuekoo! cuekoo' oh, welcome welcome
FieIds. woods and waves rejoice
In that recovered voice,
As on the wind its duty music floats"
Have you heard the cuckoOn'
How often have we asked this ques- I
tion in springl We can hardly believe
that duh, dark, dreary winter has real
Iy gone until we are assured of it by the
familiar notes of the ''plain-song cuck-
op Cray," as Shakespeare calls him.
His song is certainly monotonous, very
ike the echo OF something else. In
some districts the country people be-
lieve that it is a voice from the spirit
land, and emigrants tell Us that there
are few sounds they miss so much.
Like other birds, it is the male cue
koo that Is the songster. When he
first makes his appearance his note Is
fun and clear; but as June progresses
his voice begins to crack, becoming
worse in July, and dwindliug down to
a hoarse croak in August, by which
time he thinks it eXpedlent TO carry his
''cuck-cuck-cuckp't to other regions.
Most of you are doubtless acquainted
with the old rhyme:
"In April the cuckoo shows his bin;
In May he sings both night and day,
In June he altercth his tunci
in July he prepares 20 ily;
Come August, - he must
According to some accounts the ct.;.
koo sets off on his journey southwark
earlier than this, for the Lancashire
folk say:
~Thc first cock Of hay
Erights the cuckoo away
"a - i-.truas sl.e - = reason, that
waeu Ile LdCkoO first came TO Brittany
- Iii a nest, like other bids, and
ga. .n,gltuy u SuI OF it, too; but
49,, ef haS happened TO pass over
him while lie was hopping about .he
field. So that he was badly crushed. y
burnt child breads the tire, and for
similar reason no cuckoo can hence
forth endure the sights Of hay.
The Swiss have an odd notion that
the cuckoo can not sing until he has
eaten a birds egg; l have heard Of one
which killed itself 10y attempting 10
swallow yellOw-hammer's egg, which
would neither 90 up nor down, but
stuck fast IN his throat and chOhed
him.
What most people would have set
down Us sheer greediueSs was perhaps
only a hudabie desire TO cultivate his
voice; and no doubt the song Is right
which tells US that
.ruc cueSoo's a fuc bird;
She sings as she uiDs,
She brings as good tidius-,
she tells Us no lies,
She sucks little birds eggs
To make her voice clear
And when she SINS Cuckoo
The summer is near"
The only mistake about this is that
the female cuckoo does not sing at all
Perhaps she is too much taken up with
wondering where she shall lay her eggs;
for, You know, a cuckoo mother never
dreams Of building a house and bring
ing up her children espectiyely-oh,
dear, mol
She avoids all this trouble by simply
dropping an egg by stealth into the
nest Of some small bird-a hedEe-SpIr- |
row, a water wagtail, 4 tItlark, or |
yelluwhammer, she IS not particular !
whiCh-and, having accomplished this, |
she cheerfully leaves IL to be Matched !
and taken care of 10y the rightful own
er of the establishment she las selected.
Nor is this by any means the worst !
OF the story.
No sooner is the young cuckoo out of /
the shell than he sets to work TO jerk /
and toss out Of the nest any little birds /
OF eggs that may happen TO be there.
In a very short space of time the in /
terlOper is completely liking of the |
castle, " and rs his appetit" Unsuitable, |
his little tOster-mOther H., enough to |
do TO keep him supplied with food.
The Germans have Il proyerb, ''un-
grateful as CuCkOo;n and, gladly as
we welcome the herald of spring, we
can not help feeling that there are
points in his character the reverse Of
commeudabie.
The country folks in Sussex say that
all the CuckOOs are taken care of by an
Old woman, who, when the winter is
over, fills her apron with them. If she
is IN good temper she lets a large num-
Der OF them loose on the l4th of April;
Tat II she happens to be cross only two
or three are allowed TO fly away.
SO If you do not hear the brown
birds cry rs soon rs you expected YOU
will know that something must have
occurred TO rutlie the feelings of the old
dame in SUSSEX
The French say that the cuckoo is
such 4 vain bird that he will never re-
peat any thing but his own name; and
the German children have piece or
poetry which relates how Il cuckoo
stopped 4 starting who had just come
from town, and asked her what people
thought of the nightingale.
The whole town Is loud in her
praises said the startling.
And what about the lark?n
Half the city is talking of htr."
And the blackburn"
"a few people say they admire him. :"
'Well, what do they say about meIn
Nothing at all"
"Oh, them" said the cuckoo. ~
must praise myself. Cuckoor'
Another reason for the birds mono
tonous cry is given by Rev. Charles
SSainSCn, whu tells us the old Bohe-
mian legend: ''ln early times the cue
kOo had crown, Tut the hoopoe has dC-
priyed her of it. Ii happened in this
wise: When the birds were about to
celebrate a wedding, the hOOpOe-beiug
selected To give away the bride, and
therefore anxious to add to the dignity
OF Its ppelranCe-aSked the cuckoo 10
lend him his crown. The latter kindly
consented, but when the hoopOe dis
covered how well it suited him, he kept
II and never returned il to its ownerl
And ever since the cuckoo has been
calling 'klukul Kluku,' Ii. e. You
knaye! you knayel; while the hoopoe
answers: 'Jdu. Jdu!' q. c. I'm COM
iugl I'm comiugD."
\ BugEy's Wear and Tear