CUCKOW ( shachaph , Leviticus 11:16 , Deuteronomy 14:15 , RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘seamew,’ following LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ). Although cuckoos are common in Palestine, and their voices may be heard all over the land in the spring, yet there is good reason for rejecting this translation. The Heb. root implies ‘leanness,’ and the ‘unclean’ bird referred to must have been some kind of gull.
E. W. G. Masterman.