Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/754

* CUBIT. 650 CUCKOO-BEE. CUBIT (Lat. cubitus, elbow). A measure eniplovfil by the ancients, equal to the length of the arm from the elbow to the tip of the mid- dle finger. The cubit of the Eomaus was about 17% inches, and that of the Hebrews 22 inches, but its length is now generally stated at 18 Knglish inches. CUBITT, Sir William (1TS5-18G1). An English civil engineer, born at Dilham, Norfolk. In lSOO-04 he was apprenticed to a cabinet- maker at Stalham, and at Swanton was asso- ciated with a manufacturer of agricultural ma- chines and devised self-regulating sails for wind- mills. In 1818 he began the manufacture of his invention known as the treadmill, which was quickly introduced into the principal jails of Great Britain. From 1826 he was connected as engineer with important works in the improve- ment of canals and rivers, and the construction of bridges and railways. He conducted the im- provement of the Severn and the building of the Southeastern Railway. The water-works of Ber- lin were also executed by him. In 1850-51 he was president of the Institution of Civil Engi- neers. CUCKOO, kiik'oo (Fr. couctni. Lat. cticiihis, Gk. KOKKi'l, lolktjx. cuckoo. f>kt. l-okHa. euc'koo). A name given to many birds of the picarian family Cuculida>, which contains about 175 spe- cies, mostly confined to the warmer regions of the globe, although some of them are sunmier visitors to cool climates. Only .35 of the known species live in the New World. The beak is slightly compressed and somewhat arched : the tail long, rounded, and usually of ten feathers; the wings rather long: the tarsi short, with two toes directed forward and two backward, the outer hind toe capable of being brought half round to the front. The feet are thus adapted for grasping and moving about upon branches rather than for climbing. CticKoos of Ihe Old World. — ^The name cuckoo is derived from the note of the male of the com- mon European cuckoo {Cuculus canorns). which, although monotonous, is always heard with pleasure, being associated with all that is de- lightful in returning spring. A similar name is given to the bird in many languages. This common cuckoo is very widely diffused, as it is also found in India, Africa, and, in summer, even in Lapland and Kamchatka. It appears in Great Britain in April, and all except the young birds are believed to migrate southward again before the middle of August. The adult cuckoo is about a foot in length ; ashy-gray, barred be- neath with black; the wings are black, and the tail is black, marked with white. It frequents both cultivated districts and moors. There is no pairing or continued attachment of the male and female ; and the female, after having laid an egg on the groujid. takes it ir her mouth and deposits it, by means of her beak, in the nest of some other smaller bird, leaving the egg to be hatched and the young one to be fed by the proper owners of the nest. This egg is very small for so large a bird, not larger than a sky- lark's; and the number laid is uncertain. The young one, soon after hatching, acquires size and strength enough to eject from the nest any eggs or young birds — ^the true offspring of it.s foster-parents — which may remain in it, and it seems restless and iineasv till this is accom- plished. It works itself under them, and then jerks them out by a motion of its rump. Other species of cuckoo, closely allied to the European cuckoo, inhabit Africa, Asia, aud Australia, and have essentially the same habits, one, about the Mediterranean, victimizing pies alone, its eggs liaving a remarkable resemblance to those of the magpie. Equally parasitic are many Old-World tropical species of various other genera : yet some of them (see Couc^L) do not shirk parental responsibility, but incubate and rear their oru offspring. This extraordinary practice of bird parasitism, in respect to its facts and probable origin and development, is thoroughly discussed by A. Newton, Dictionary of Birds, article '■Cuckoo" (London, 1896). The American cuckoos represent three differ- ent subfamilies — the anis, the road-runners, and the treeeuekoos. The last compose the group Coccyzinte, and are characteristic of and con- fined to America. The best-known species are the black-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus crythrophthal- mus) and the yellow-billed {Coccyzus Ameri- ca nvs). Both species occur commonly in sum- mer throughout the L'nited States and eastern Canada, but pass the winter in Central and South America. The black-billed cuckoo does not occur west of the Rocky Mountains. The two species are of about the same size, a foot long, and are olive-brown above, wliite beneath, but are easily distinguished by the color of the bill and the amount of white on the tail. YELLOW-BILLED CTCKOO. Unlike the Old-World cuckoos, they are not parasites, but build their own nests and incu- bate their o^ti eggs. The nests are flimsy struc- tures of twigs, the eggs large and pale blue. In- cubatioi! begins when the first egg is laid, so that no two of the eggs or yotmg are in just the same stage of development. The American cuckoos are insectivorous and are very useful birds. Their note or call is a series of accelerat- ed 'chucks,' not exactly harsh, but far from musical. In the Middle, Western, and Southern States the yellow-bill is known as 'rain-crow,' because its note is supposed to predict rain — an idea prevalent in regard to these birds in other parts of the world. Consult Beal, Food of Cuclcoos (Department of Agriculture, Washing- ton. 1808). See Plate of^CfCKOos: and Col- ored Plate of Eggs of Soxg-Bikps. CUCKOO AND THE NIGHTINGALE, The. . poem attributed in the si.xteenth cen- tury to Ciiaucer, but probably not composed by him. The subject is the discussion between a nightingale and a cuckoo on the comparative blessings of love. CUCKOO-BEE. A naked, somewhat wasp- like bee of the family Nomadidse, all the many species of which are parasitic in the nests of other bees, after the manner of the European