CUCKOO. 113 



course vary with the character of the locahty from 

 which the records come. For instance, in the sheltered 

 districts at the head of Morecambe Bay, the Cuckoo 

 appears very early, and in 1883, Mr. H. Kerr informs 

 me that near Grange it was heard regularly after the 

 10th of April, while from no other district have I any 

 note of its arrival before the 28th. The earliest reliable 

 date I can find is that recorded in the Field of April 27, 

 1861, in which year Mr. John Page says that it was seen 

 near Manchester on the 2nd of April. The old birds are 

 seldom observed after the first few days of July, and the 

 young of the year the same time in September. The 

 Cuckoo is universally distributed, and is equally common 

 on the South Lancashire mosses, the sand-hills of the 

 coast, the cultivated lands, and the bases of the hills in 

 the moorland districts. It lays its eggs from the 1st of 

 May to the middle of June, and the nest of the Meadow- 

 Pipit is, undoubtedly, oftenest chosen for the purpose, 

 the Sky-Lark, Hedge-Sparrow, Yellow-hammer, Whin- 

 chat, Pied and Yellow Wagtails, and Sedge-Warbler 

 being, in their order, the next most favoured recipients 

 of its attentions. The call of the male Cuckoo is fre- 

 quently heard in the night, sometimes even into the 

 small hours. 



