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SPRING 



evidence that one has ever reached us before April. March 

 cuckoos are so far ' not proven,' while February cuckoos are 

 still more open to suspicion. Cuckoos feed chiefly, if not 

 entirely, on the hairy caterpillars, such as drinkers and woolly 

 bears, which first appear on emerging from hibernation in 

 mid-April. If they come before these caterpillars are about 

 they are likely to starve ; and though some migrant birds — 

 for example, swallows and martins — 

 do starve when they reach England in 

 cold springs before their natural food 

 is forthcoming in sufficient quantities, 

 nature generally avoids such a fiasco. 

 Moreover, a starving bird is very un- 

 likely to have vigour to shout in spring 

 song, which is the expression of over- 

 flowing vitality ; and a February or 

 March cuckoo is very unlikely to be 

 heard cuckooing. Cuckoos are reported 

 as having been heard before their usual 

 time much more often than as having 

 been seen ; and the improbability of 

 these aural records makes the remaining 

 body of evidence very unsubstantial. 

 Cuckoos arrive in England along the eastern half of the 

 south coast — from Hampshire to Dover ; but unlike the 

 nightingale, which chooses the same point of entry, they 

 spread over the entire country, even to the Outer Hebrides 

 and the Shetlands. They do not reach their remotest haunts 

 until the end of May, or even early June. When they 

 arrive they have always the perfect double note, which they 

 usually keep until June; and this is another reason for doubt- 

 ing the authenticity of very early records. It would be more 

 in accordance with the gradualstages by whichmost birdsbuild 



WOOLLY BEAR 



