Well you do happen upon an interest of mine in all things classical Greek!
Cuckoos were a sacred bird, sacred to the goddess Hera - strange in itself that
the bird who lays her eggs in another's nest should be sacred to the Goddess of
family and marriage. Certainly in English mediaeval times, cuckolding was the
opposite of faithful family life! But when the cuckoo became sacred the Greek's
did not understand its habits. Before the life of cuckoos was well understood,
they were thought to turn into hawks to account for their absence in winter.
Pliny in his Natural History accepted that notion. Aristotle later rejected the
idea on the basis of the cuckoo's bills and talons not being carnivorous. So
perhaps Aristotle is the answer, or at least as possible answer, to your
question!
On 1/4/20, 1:24 pm, "Terry Bell" <> wrote:
In antiquity who was the eminent person that first documented the key
aspects of common cuckoo behaviour ( Mark Cocker )
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