Common Cuckoo - in Culture

In Culture

• In Europe, hearing the call of the Common Cuckoo is regarded as the first harbinger of spring. Many local legends and traditions are based on this. In Scotland, a number of Gowk Stones exist, sometimes associated with the arrival of the first cuckoo of spring. "Gowk" is an old name for the Common Cuckoo in northern England, derived from a harsh repeated "gowk" call the bird makes when excited.

• The well-known cuckoo clock features a mechanical bird and is fitted with bellows and pipes that imitate the call of the Common Cuckoo.

• Common Cuckoos feature in a number of traditional rhymes. For instance,

'"In April the cuckoo comes, In May she'll stay, In June she changes her tune, In July she prepares to fly, Come August, go she must,"' quoted Peggy. 'But you haven't said it all,' put in Bobby. '"And if the cuckoo stays till September, It's as much as the oldest man can remember."'