264 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



of Guildford, observed a Cuckoo sitting on the ground in 

 a ride under the hme trees along the edge of the wood. 

 He knocked it over with a stick, and on squeezing it by 

 the throat to expedite its dying struggles, the soft and 

 fluid yolk of an egg, flowing freely forth from the base 

 of the mandibles, caused him to exclaim, ' Why he's 

 got an egg in his mouth.' I have no doubt that similar 

 instances of this habit of the Cuckoo have given rise to 

 the prevailing notion that it sucks the eggs of other 

 birds." 



In his Birds of Rainham, 1865, Mr. W. H. Power says 

 the Cuckoo was " first heard on April 22. This species, 

 like the Wryneck, was not quite so abundant this year 

 (1865) as last ; indeed, their numbers vary greatly in 

 different years, and in this district appears to me to bear 

 a distinct relation to the presence or absence of a cater- 

 pillar that feeds upon the gooseberry leaves. In some 

 seasons these caterpillars infest the bushes in myriads, 

 and at such times the Cuckoos abound in the planta- 

 tions, where I have often flushed from six to a dozen 

 within a distance of 100 yards. In the early part of the 

 summer of 1862 I more than once heard the Cuckoo 

 singing at midnight ; there was one in particular that 

 generally commenced his song at 11 p.m., and continued 

 it almost without intermission till nearly one o'clock in 

 the morning. About the beginning of July the Cuckoos 

 collect in the plantations near the river (Medway), and 

 often take long flights out over the marshes, on which 

 they sometimes settle to feed upon a species of caterpillar 

 at this time to be found on the marsh plants. Towards 

 the latter end of the month the old birds begin to retire 

 on their migration, and are in their turn replaced by the 

 birds of the year ; these may be found till about the 



