l8o OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



When the Cuckoo goes abroad, he much resembles a 

 hawk as he skims along ; and hence the common idea 

 that the Cuckoos become Sparrow-hawks, or rather 

 Merlins, in the winter. He is seldom seen on the 

 ground ; there he is clumsy and awkward, and pro- 

 gresses by short hops as he searches for food ; but he 

 flies rapidly and without apparent effort. 



The range of the Cuckoo extends from the Arctic 

 Circle, both in Europe and Asia, to South Africa and 

 Southern India. And we are told that when it is heard 

 in Siberia, prisoners attempt to escape, believing that life 

 for a time in the woods has become possible. Every- 

 where in and about the United Kingdom he is common, 

 and may be found in the small uninhabited islands of 

 the Hebrides, and is said even to have occurred in the 

 Faroe Islands. 



With the poets the Cuckoo has always been a bird of 

 fame ; so Shakespeare : 



" The plain song Cuckoo grey, 

 Whose note full many a man doth mark, 

 And dares not answer nay." 



And Wordsworth : 



" O Cuckoo ! shall I call thee bird, 

 Or but a wandering voice ? 



Darling of the spring, 

 No bird, but an invisible thing 

 A voice, a mystery." 



Whilst Quarles, in his Divine Fancies, thus alludes ta 

 the strange habits of the bird : 



" The idle Cuckoo, having made a feast 



On Sparrows' eggs, lays down her own in the nest ; 

 The silly bird, she owns it, hatches, feeds it, 

 Protects it from the weather, clocks and breeds it ; 



