CUCKOO. 287 



Mr. W, H. St. Quintin informs me {in litt.) that, on nth 

 January 1896, he watched for some time a Hoopoe which 

 had been a week or more on a farm of the East Riding Wolds. 

 It was very tame and uttered a harsh churring call note, 

 at the same time raising and depressing its crest. 



CUCKOO. 



Cuculus canorus (/..). 



Summer visitant, generally distributed, common. Arrives about 

 the third week in April, departing in August, young birds occasionally 

 lingering to the end of September or even into October. 



The earliest published reference to the Cuckoo, in connec- 

 tion with Yorkshire history, is contained in a communication 

 from Ralph Johnson of Brignall, near Greta Bridge, to 

 John Ray : — 



" The Cuckoo, Cuculus. Who because he preys only upon 

 the eggs of birds (and is therefore pursued, not attended, 

 as is said, by the Moor Titling) or their young ones in the nest, 

 hath small and weaker Beak and Talons, and therefore dis- 

 appears in winter, when such food is not to be had. I have 

 known one kept with all imaginable care, but (whether through 

 alteration of food, or some other cause) before Winter she grew 

 torpid, broke out in scabs, and died. The young one is 

 curiously spotted. I have seen one in Harvest partly spotted, 

 partly cinerous." (Will. " Orn." 1683, p. 22.) 



Thomas Allis, 1844, wrote : — 



Cuculus canorus. — Cuckoo — Common in most parts though I think 

 less so near York than was formerly the case ; Dr. Farrar says in 1 843 

 most abundant, but this season, 1844, little heard, probably from the 

 unusually long continued spring rendering its food less abundant ; W. 

 Eddison observes that it breeds very numerously on the moors near 

 Huddersfield chiefly in the nest of Titlarks ; its stomach often con- 

 tains very curious specimens of very minute land shells. The instance 

 before recorded, of a young Cuckoo being brought up in the nest of 

 a Reed Warbler, in the possession of Arthur Strickland, adds a new 



