50 RIVERSIDE LETTERS vi 



song is something like that of a robin but 

 much shriller and more hurried. 



The cuckoo has already (April i6th) 

 been heard here, but not by me. I 

 have heard, however, the wryneck, which 

 is called " the cuckoo's mate." Hook told 

 me that the country people regard the first 

 note of this bird as a warning that the 

 proper time for peeling the oak-bark has 

 arrived, they think that the bird says " Peel, 

 peel, peel, peel, peel." 



