CORRESPONDENCE. 119 



Cucoo is explained in Loudon's Magazine, vol. viii., p. 256 ; but as 

 the reviewer has not seen this, I may inform him that I conceive 

 the bird does not say cuk-coo, but cu-co, and in this view of the 

 matter the Romans, French, Germans, and Italians coincide, though 

 the Greeks have the two consonants in the middle — kokkos. If the 

 latter be correct, the word should be written Cuccoo, the English 

 c answering to the Greek «. Having thus set the reviewer right, I 

 now part with him, thanking him cordially for the good opinion he 

 has bestowed on my labours. 



To the catalogue given at page 200 may be added the following : 

 — the Buscarl Reedling (Salicaria carex, W., Silvia cetti, of Mar- 

 mora) ; the Shore Lark (Alauda alpestris, Lin.) ; the Mealy Lin- 

 net (Linaria carescens, Gould) ; the Pectoral Dunlin (Tringa pec- 

 toralis, Bon.) ; the Whiteheaded Scoter (Oidemia leucocephala, 

 Stev.) ; the BufFelheaded Garrot (Clangula albeola, Stev.) ; the 

 Shortbilled Guillemot ( Uria brufiickia. Sab.) ; and the Brown- 

 headed Gull (Larus capisiratus, Tem.) ; Audubon doubts whether 

 the Lestris Richardsonia be really distinct from the L. parasiticus. 

 The Rusty Thrush (T. variusj has only occurred once in Britain. 

 The Fen Reedling C Salicaria palustris) has never been seen in this 

 country. Longirostris is, I think, preferable to Macroramfus for 

 the genus Longbeak. For Common Merganser, read Greenheaded 

 IMerganser. The title of the Hairy Woodpecker to a place in the 

 British fauna is very doubtful. 



I must here conclude my letter, suggested by the objections of 

 your correspondent. Should he wish to prosecute the science of 

 Ornithology, I should advise him to i)rocure Selby's British Orni- 

 thology and IMudie's Feathered Tribes, both now enjoying the 

 honours of a second edition : they are worth all the other works on 

 British birds put together, and from their moderate cost are accessi- 

 ble to all. For those who wish merely for a general idea of the 

 animals of our island, I should recommend Jenyns's excellent Manu- 

 al of British Vertebrated Animals, just published, which is incom- 

 parably superior to Fleming's wretched History of British Animals, 

 the only other work of the kind which has appeared. 



Derbyshire, February 9, 1836. S. D. W. 



