Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on November 16, 2007 at 10:24:43 from 217.33.157.34 user ACB.
In Reply to: Cuckoo changing its tune? posted by Pam Adams on November 15, 2007 at 21:59:09:
In Britain, the cuckoo is a summer migrant.
Spring is customarily dated from hearing the first cuckoo - each Spring, The Times is deluged with letters from people who have heard a cuckoo.
The cuckoo actually does change its song in June.
There is a country rhyme, once known to every English child, which Titty and Susan would certainly have known:
Here is one version:
Cuckoo, Cuckoo,
What do you do?
In April I open my bill
In May I sing night and day
In June I change my tune
In July, away I fly
In August, go I must
and here is another:
In April, come he will
In flowery May he doth sing all day
In leafy June, he doth change his tune
In bright July, he doth begin to fly
In August, go he must
If he stay till September
Tis as much as any man can remember