J. F. Campbell Collection > Popular rhymes of Scotland

164 POPULAR RHYMES OP SCOTLAND.
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THE CUCKOO.
The cucko(f s a bonny bird,
He sings as he flies ;
He brings us good tidings ;
He tells us no lies.
He drinks the cold water.
To keep his voice clear ;
And he'U come agaia
In the spring of the year.
In an English version of this ditty, ' He sucks little birds'
eg-gs ' is the beginning of the second vei'se. The fact thus
alleged has lately been questioned by naturalists. Perhaps
it is not altogether unfounded; but certainly insects and
larvse form the staple of the food of this, as of most British
birds of the same order.
The boys of South Britain have a rhyme involving the
whole summer's history of the cuckoo : —
In April,
The cuckoo shows his bill ;
In May,
' "^ He sings all day ;
In June,
He alters his tune ;
In July,
He prepares to fly ;
Come August,
Go he must.
The Germans connect the cuckoo with good weather, and
countrymen do not like to hear it before June, because,
they say, the sooner he comes, the sooner will he go.
Boys in that country, on hearing the cuckoo for the first
time, cry, ' Cuckoo, how long am I to live ? ' They then
count the cuckoo's cries, by the number of which they
judge of the years yet to be allowed to them.
SEA BIRDS.
Ray hands down to us a rhyme popular in his day re-
specting the birds which nestle on the Bass —
The scout, the scart, the cattiwake,
The solan goose sits on the laik
Yearly in the spring.