The cuckoo and some Portuguese popular believes

In some Portuguese villages, when in autumn, we question  old people about their health, we normally get the answer:
- I'll never listen to the cuckoo again!
If those old people survive through the winter, anxiously, they wait the arrive of the cuckoo, because its singing  will bring them  hope in one more year of life.

The Portuguese young villagers normally question to the cuckoo:
-Tell me cuckoo how long I'll remain single?  
 Each "ku..ku" is believed meaning one year.

In some Portuguese villages, people believe that when somebody listen to the cuckoo for the first time in the spring without money, this somebody will remain penniless through the year. So, at the proper time, people are prevented with some coins into their pockets.