50 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



his word, fell into the trap, and, as a contemporary very per- 

 tinently says : " Learned persons have written learnedly, and 

 scientific bodies have discussed scientifically (to the utter demoral- 

 isation of Gilbert White, Markwick, and the rest of the accepted 

 naturalists), the raison d'etre of the Harpenden Cuckoo. And 

 Mr King, the labourer, has been doing it all the time ! " 



I always regard these early records of our feathered harbingers 

 with suspicion, for the simple reason that those of us whose 

 pleasure it is to chronicle the arrival of Spring, Summer, Autumn, 

 and Winter migrant birds, almost invariably fail to note these 

 phenomenal appearances. But Tom, Dick and Harry, year after 

 year, with unfailing regularity, record the arrival of the Cuckoo, 

 the Swallow, the Nightingale, and other birds long before field 

 naturalists, gamekeepers, farmers, and others, who are more or 

 less always out of doors, hear or see them, and, whilst there are 

 undoubtedly some genuine early arrivals among us, one should 

 almost always receive with suspicion records sent in to the papers 

 by unknown persons. 



In my own experience, the Cuckoo rarely gives voice before 

 April has been ushered in for some days. For one thing, this 

 insectivorous bird would find it difficult to obtain a sufficient food 

 supply so early in the season, as it feeds chiefly on hairy cater- 

 pillars, which do not make their appearance much before April 

 has arrived, and it is largely a question of food supply which 

 regulates, and controls, the movements of these Summer bird 

 visitors to our shores. 



Whilst in an early season the enthusiastic observer of outdoor 

 life may be tempted into the belief that an extra early arrival 

 of a particular species may be expected, I have found during 

 thirty-seven years' experience of bird- watching that there is almost 

 always a distinct lull before our Summer migrants appear among 

 us, even if the season is congenial and ready for their coming. 

 As a matter of fact, our migratory birds do not vary to any great 

 extent in the date of arrival upon our shores, as my own and 

 other bird calendars amply demonstrate. In 1902 I conducted 

 an extensive campaign in all parts of the British Isles as to the 

 dates of arrival of our Summer bird migrants (some forty species 

 in all), and, so far as concerns the subject of these notes, the 

 Cuckoo, April was the earliest time when it made its welcome 

 appearance. 



In its babyhood the young Cuckoo has caused me much in- 

 terest, both in and out of the nest in which it was born. In 



