The Channel Billed Cuckoo Poem by Francis Duggan

She lay her eggs in nest of magpie, currawong or crow
And leave unsuspecting foster parent to raise her offspring
And whilst the foster bird raise young channel billed cuckoo
The nestling's mum towards distant places wing.

The largest of the parasitic cuckoo race
Is the nomadic bird the channel billed cuckoo
She never stay too long in the one place
Her journeys take her far to places new.

She look much like a walking stick in the sky
As o'er the forests of Queensland she fly
Her distinct voice through the rain forest ring
The cuckoo's come to visit for the Spring.

The largest cuckoo of the Southern Hemisphere
Her eggs in nest of other bird she lay
She leave others to hatch out and raise her young
The only part in motherhood she play.