Bingham Bulletin | 1929-03-07 | Page 7 | Good and Bad Luck That Cuckoo Brings

Good and Bad Luck That Cuckoo Brings A wealth of folklore nnd superstl tlon hns been wound around the cuckoo all down the ages. In the Muriiltue highlands and Hebrides If the cuckoo is first beard by imp who has not broken his fusl somt- nils fortune Is expected. Indeed. It Is em sldereil a reproach to one In have beard the cuckoo while hungry Itf France, to hear (he ruckuo fu I thp Hrt tlmp fnKtirif la tn. rn-il.-u flib hearer an Idle do-nothing for Ihe rest of the year. There Is a similar he lief In Somersetshire. In Northmnl-er land one is told, if wnlklng on n hunt road when the cuckoo first calls, that the ensuing season will be full of n Inmity ; to he on soft ground Is h lucky omen. The cuckoo Is one of the shyest of hlrds. lie Is not a fieouontrr of thick hushes. Ii!:e the warbler tribe hut takes boldly to the trees; nnd vet h Is hut seldom seen. His loud cull Is nn incident of courtship The ben birds are supposed to hear mailt singers before they chouse a mate, and apparently choose the loudest But though thp male cuckoos are sel (loin seen, the hens are even mint rarely met with : they have nut the betraying call, and are less often l:i the open. Their time, not filled up with nest-building, is occupied In searching for eligible nests of othet birds. An Instinct Induces them to make this choice from those of birds whose food would nourish the youns cuckoo. Montreal Family Born Id