Cuckoo in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
kook'-oo, kuk'-oo (shachaph; laros; Latin Cuculus canorus):
The Hebrew root from which the word shachaph is derived
means "to be lean" and "slender," and in older versions of
the Bible was translated cuckow (cuckoo). It was mentioned
twice in the Bible (Lev 11:16, and practically the same in
Dt 14:15 the King James Version "cuckoo"), in the list of
unclean birds. The Latin term by which we designate the bird
is very similar to the Arabic, and all names for it in
different countries are so nearly the same that they prove
themselves based on its double cry, "cuck-oo," or the single
note "kowk" or "gouk." The bird is as old as history, and
interesting because the European species placed its eggs in
the nests of other birds, which gave rise to much fiction
concerning its habits. The European bird is a brownish gray
with white bars underneath, and larger than ours, which are
a beautiful olive gray, with tail feathers of irregular
length touched with white, knee tufts, black or yellow bill,
according to species, and beautiful sleek head and shining
eyes. Our birds build their own nests, attend their young
with care and are much loved for their beauty. Their food is
not repulsive in any species; there never was any reason why
they should have been classed among the abominations, and
for these reasons scientists in search of a "lean, slender"
bird of offensive diet and habit have selected the "sea-mew"
(which see) which is substituted for cuckoo in the Revised
Version (British and American) with good natural-history
reason to sustain the change.
Gene Stratton-Porter
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