1904. Notes, 47 



Grasshopper Warbler at Lough Swilly. 



On the i6th June, at about half-past nine in the evening, I heard the 

 Grasshopper Warbler close to my house, in an Alder scrub by a ditch, 

 close to a water-lily pond. From that date till the loth of July I heard 

 it each night that I went to listen, which was nearly every night. It 

 generally began about half-past eight, and from that time never ceased 

 till dawn, as long as I was present. I saw the birds a couple of times, 

 once about the end of August, but was careful not to disturb them, as I 

 have no doubt they were nesting. The note resembled the call-note of 

 a wren to its young, but was quicker in trill and quite continuous, and 

 higher-pitched as well as softer. It seemed to swing a little from high to 

 low in cadence, and would often appear to be orily a few feet from me; 

 at other times, twice or three times as many yards within a second or 

 two. I have only heard them once before, twenty years ago in Co. 

 Wexford. I understand the Rev. A. Delap has heard them at the south 

 end of the county on the Tyrone borders. 



I brought several natives to listen to the notes at different nights, to 



all of whom it was new. One woman compared it to the reeling up of 



the "rowings" on the spinning wheel. It was a good year here for 



Warblers ; both Willow Wren and Chiffchaff stayed some time, which 



is not always the case. 



H. C. Hart. 



Carrablagh; Co. Donegal. 



Cuckoo's Note uttered while Flying. 



Some years ago (during 1894) a number of notes by different writers 

 appeared in the Zoologist with reference to the Cuckoo calling while on 

 the wing. At the time it seemed to me to be a rather unusual occur- 

 rence, though several observers stated that they had noticed it not 

 uncommonly. This year I had a good opportunity of watching a 

 Cuckoo at Tramore in this count}^ and listened to it uttering its call 

 while flying. On one day (June 4) I heard it repeat " cuckoo " no less 

 than eight times during one continued flight, and shortly afterwards the 

 bird called five times, also during one flight. 



Professor Newton spells the bird's name" Cuckow," in the 4th edition 

 of Yarrell's " British Birds" ; and, in an account of the bird to be found 

 in the last edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," vol. vi., p. 685, 

 he states that thus •* the word was formerly, and more correctly, spelt, 

 changed without any apparent warrant except that accorded by custom, 

 while some of the more scholarly English ornithologists, as Montague 

 and Jenyns, have kept the older form." It seems to me that there was 

 good reason for altering the spelling to " Cuckoo." The bird's name 

 admittedly was given to it on account of the note it utters, as is also the 

 case with regard to other birds— ^.^^., Chiffchaff, Curlew, Hoopoe. I 

 think that most observers will say that " cuckoo" is nearer to the bird's 



note than " cuckow." 



W11.1.IAM W. Fl^EMYNG. 

 Portlaw. 



