That was a long time ago. A fox came to a bird meeting and, by cunning and deception, lured the birds into her house. She led them into the house and lay down across the door, saying that as soon as they fall asleep, I’ll eat them.
One day the fox watches over his guests, the next day the birds do not close their eyes. Moreover, they chose a sensitive, sleepless jay - in other words, a jay - and asked it to position itself closer to the mistress of the house.
On the third day, the fox herself could not stand it and began to doze. Then the cuckoo with a piercing cry: “The hunter has come! Save yourself! – she hit the fox in the eye with her beak. The fox got scared and - God bless her legs! - ran away from home.
The birds got out into the wild and praised the kuksha. And this is what they told her:
– Do you need to waste energy on flights to warm countries? You won’t disappear here either, stay. Let your plumage match the color of grass and foliage, feed on the sap and resin of trees, and so that you alone are not bored, learn the voice of forty-four birds.
Since then, the kuksha remains in the North in winter and is able to imitate the voice of a wide variety of birds.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru