Someone in American history, perhaps a Supreme Court judge (?), once
said that the cuckoo bird would be a more fitting bird to represent
America than the bald eagle.  Who said this, and what did they say? 
Note, I'm not asking for Ben Franklin, who said the turkey would be a
more fitting bird.

Hello.

The person credited with this is Oliver Wendell Holmes.


'[Greil] Marcus finds Oliver Wendell Holmes recommending in 1872 that
the cuckoo, an American motif, be installed as the national symbol.
"We Americans are all cuckoos. We make our homes in the nests of other
birds," writes Holmes–which isn't  quite right."

From Page 60 of the book
"Sweet Chaos : The Grateful Dead's American Adventure"
Found using Amazon.com's "search inside" feature:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/051759448X/


'"We Americans are all cuckoos," Oliver Wendell Holmes said in 1872.
"We make our homes in the nests of other birds."
...The cuckoo–true parasitic "cuckoo," which despite Holmes's choice
of it for national bird is not found in the United States...'

Page 118
"The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes "
Found using Amazon.com's "search inside" feature:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312420439/


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The quotation "We Americans are all cuckoos. We make our homes in the
nests of other birds" comes from "The Poet at the Breakfast Table" by
Oliver Wendell Holmes. Available online at simonova.net
http://www.simonova.net/library/1400-1.html

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search terms:
amazon.com : cuckoo, national, symbol, bird

I hope this helps.

awesome, just what i was looking for.  thanks juggler!!