The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-02-17
THE RAINCROW.
Some Interesting Facts About Ameri-
can Cuckoo.

bird that would pass just as easily for
a bald eagle as a cuckoo, pops out,
and repeats the same sad sound, eight
times. sound by the way, very nue.
like that made by suddenly jerking
a finger out of the neck of bottle.
It is now eight o'clock-for the cue
koo has said so, and the sleepy eyed
children trail off to bed. To childish
eyes and childish ears, this is all very
wonderful and mysterious-this lit
tie wooden bird that lives in a clock,
that comes out, all by itself and every
time the short hand crawls around
to 12, makes it's little stiff bow, and
calls out the hour. So, from our
earliest recollection, we have asso-
ciated the cuckoo with carved wood
en- clocks, and bed time, and seldom
think of him as very slender, long
tailed, graceful and exceedingly intel
ligent bird. One reason we know
him so slightly is that he is not Of
ten spoken of as a cuckoo as we have
christened him the raincroW. But
he is a real, genuine cuckoo, no mat
ter by what name he is known. He
is about twelve inches long, with one
of these willowy figures now consider
ed so stylish. His colors are graylsh
brown and black, wings and tail, and
white underneath. His bill is rather
long and slightly curved. The tail
is quite long and slim. Altogether
his appearance is rather more gentle
than beautiful. So stealthy and quiet
in all his movements but few people
ever see him. He might examine
every leaf in the tree, under which
you are sitting and you be none the
wiser, unless he happened to drop
some Casual remark in the cuckoo
language which would certainly
cause you to sit up and take notice.
That voice of his has no duplicate in
nature-it stands unique and alone,
in class to itself. How so gentle
an appearing bird can utter sounds
so entirely at variance with what one
would naturally expect from him, is
something to wonder about. His vo-
cabulary is limited to the one single
syllable kuk-which he usually re-
peats several times in rapid success
sion, as if anxious to get as many of
them out of his system as possible.
When farmer hears his harsh,
croaking kuk, kuk, kuk, he is apt to
remark: Hear that raincrow? Co.
ing to have falling weather before
long We don't know how it hap
pened that the mantle of prophet
should have fallen across his slender
shoulders unless it was the fact in
damp, murky weather the insects on
which he feeds may be more active
and restless. He is most voracious
feeder, and his waking hours are all
taken up in continuous hunt for food.
He goes slipping and gliding silent
" among the leaves, carefully ex-
amining each one for tent caterpil-
lars and the little green measuring
worms, these two being the leading
dishes on his bill of fare. He ranks
very near head among the valuable
insect destroyers of our birds, for he
not only devours enormous numbers,
but when his appetite is satisfied and
he can eat no more, he goes right on
killing every single caterpillar or
worm he finds. It has been found by
careful observation and by dissection
that cuckoo consumes daily from SO
to 400 caterpillars, and worms. So,
you see, he is one whose friendship
is worth cultivating.
Now when it comes to his home
life it really would be charitable just
to skip over that or say nothing, for
we fear very little that is good can
be said of it. AS family somebody
and as father, he is sad failure.
He takes the whole business too
lightly, and home ties with him are
fragile and easily snapped. 1t is said
that he changes his mate every
spring. He should be an accomplish
ed lover and husband if there is any
thing in such practice, but he is not.
The nest his mate builds is just the
barest kind of an excuse. 1t is moth
ing but loose bundle of sticks,
pitched together in a haphazard
fashion, without the slightest re-
gard for the rules of bird architect
ure. When finished or rather when
the builder quits, it is but slip
shod, halfway, ramshackle> platform,
no provision being made for keeping
the eggs from rolling out. In their
nesting habits they are irregular and
eccentric in the extreme. The fe-
male often lays the second egg when