108 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[May 1, 1S70. 



Charing, in Graveseud chalk, in the gault at Eolkes- 

 tone, in the tertiary in Austria, and living in the 

 Adriatic Sea. 



33. Rotalina crassa (fig. 11G), said to be very rare 

 at St. Germain, Meudoii, and in England. 



Of the sixteen species included in the present in- 

 stalment, all but one are recorded as British. One 



Fig. 116. Rotiilimt crassa. 



34. Rotalina Cordieriana (fig. 117), found by our 

 author at St. Germain and Maestricht, and also 

 occurring in English chalk. Thus, it will be ob- 

 served, that of five forms of Rotalina, all are recorded 

 in the British isles. 



Fig. 117. Jiotnlina Cordieriana. 



The present communication will conclude with 

 Globigerina, of which two species are given. It is 

 no part of our design to enter upon the discussion 

 whether they are distinct in themselves, or distinct 

 from the form so common everywhere in a living 

 state. Some are of opinion that all are specifically 

 the same. Perhaps they are right. 



Fig. 118. Qlobigerinu cretucea, 



35. Globigerina cretucea (fig. 118). — Of this D'Or- 

 bigny states that he found one single example at St. 

 Germain, and more from England. It is certainly a 

 common European form. 



3G. Globigerina elevata (fig. 119), stated to be com- 

 mon in the environs of Sens, but rare in England. 



Fig. 119. Globigerina elevata. 



other communication will shortly follow, which will 

 include the remaining eighteen species, and complete 

 the figures given in D'Orbigny's Memoir. 



THE CUCKOO. 

 (Cuciilus canorus.) 



T ONG before a decided taste for ornithology had 

 -*-* possessed our youthful mind, when Ave ran 

 hither and thither in the early spring, to pluck the 

 first cowslip and the " nodding violet," did we 

 start and pause on hearing the Cuckoo's note ; and 

 as we watched the plain grey bird flit from the ash- 

 tree, and skim hawk-like across the meadow, we 

 longed to have him in our hands, and, childlike, see 

 how he made the noise. Where he came from, or 

 why we only saw him between April and August 

 we could not tell. There was always a mystery 

 about the bird which we could not fathom, and we 

 never listened to his note, or crept stealthily along 

 the hedgerow to try and see him, without a feeling 

 of wonderment and awe. This feeling has of course 

 long since passed away ; but even now we never 

 hear our old friend without an indescribable sense 

 of pleasure, which is heightened by the old associa- 

 tions which are recalled, and the recollection of the 

 happy careless days when the note of "Cuckoo" 

 first made so great an impression. 



Since that time many a Cuckoo and Cuckoo's 

 egg has passed through our hands, and many ex- 

 cellent opportunities have we enjoyed of studying 

 the habits of this curious bird. 



Considering the amount of attention which has 

 been bestowed upon the Cuckoo by naturalists in 

 every age down to the present, one might readily 

 suppose that every fact in connection with its life- 

 history was now pretty generally known. But such 

 is not the case. There are still certain points which 

 require investigation, and which, owing chiefly to 

 the vagrant habits of the bird, arc not easily 

 determined. 



How can it be ascertained with certainty, for ex- 

 ample, whether the same hen Cuckoo always lays 

 eggs of the same colour, or whether (admitting 

 this to be the case) she invariably lays in the nest 



