Diederik cuckoo either "cuprea" (coppery) or "capensis" (of Cape of Good Hope). The English name is an onomatopoeic rendition of its call. Diederik cuckoo The Diederik cuckoo ("Chrysococcyx caprius"), formerly dideric cuckoo or didric cuckoo, and sometimes called Diederik's cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners and the anis. The diederik cuckoo is a smallish cuckoo at 18 to 20 cm. Adult males are glossy green above with copper-sheened areas on the back and whitish underparts. They have a broken white eye-stripe and a short, green malar stripe. All remiges have three
The Cuckoo (song) The third verse is the standard "Cuckoo is a pretty bird" and after an adapted floating verse: If I were a clerk And I could write a good hand I would write to my true love So that she'd understand That I am a young fellow Who is wounded in love Once I lived in Buncloudy But now must remove. The song ends in a sad verse about emigration. There is a fine recording of this song from Luke Kelly of The Dubliners. The cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) was until recent times a common visitor to the English countryside in spring