CUCKOO. 107 



The Rev. W. Baskerville Mynors was so fortunate a few years 

 ago, as to witness an arrival of Cuckoos. He writes ; " about 5-45 

 a.m. on April 14th, I was waiting to see the masons and men come 

 to work ; all was hushed, scarce an insect buzzing about ; while 

 admiring the beauties of nature, my attention was arrested by a 

 curious, unknown, apparently distant sound ; a dull chattering, with 

 a few sharp accents ; listening with great attention and gazing 

 steadily around, after some seconds, I descried a line of something, 

 high as the eye could reach, about the size of Wagtails, moving 

 from S.E. towards N.W., equidistant, probably from 20 to 40 yards 

 apart. This was an arrival of Cuckoos. I believe I saw the end 

 of the straight line of birds, probably by no means the beginning of 

 it. While carefully watching them, I saw about four or five leave the 

 line, and descend with a clumsy zigzag movement till near the 

 earth ; two or three certainly remained, apparently well satisfied, as if 

 exclaiming ' yes, these are my dear old quarters ' ; one or two re- 

 ascended, and I could imagine them grumbling out, ' I've made a 

 geographical mistake, or trees and hedgerows are gone,' as they 

 rejoined the almost straight line aloft." 



This interesting observation of Mr. Mynors tends to support the 

 statement that migratory birds return to their old resting places. 

 This may be so, since Fly Catchers, Shrikes, Chiff-Chaffs, and a 

 horde of other migratory birds, do return year after year to nidificate 

 in the same spot. The note heard by Mr. Mynors, however, 

 suggests that the flock may have consisted of ladies only, since it 

 is now believed that male and female Cuckoos come to us in 

 separate flocks, as is the case with some other migrants. 



Hark ! — The Cuckoo's sprightly note 



That tells the coming of the vernal prime, 



And cheers the heart of youth and agetl man. 



Say, sweet stranger, whence hast thou ta'en thy flight, 



From Asia's spicy groves, or Afric's clime, 



And who directs thy wandering journey far? 



Kev. W. Munsey. 



Pliny and the older naturalists supposed the Cuckoo of 

 summer to become a Hawk in winter; and it is still firmly 

 believed in some parts of the country, that the same individual 



