Fear of 111 Luck 165 



The Cuckoo has formed the theme of more rhymes, and 

 folklore tales, than probably any other bird in the world. 

 According to one of the latter, " Welsh ambassadors were 

 called cuckoos because their countrymen generally invaded 

 England in the spring about the time of the birds' appear- 

 ance " ; but what may have been true enough in olden 

 days would seem to be no longer applicable, since Welsh 

 people restrict their invasion to no particular season now ! 

 That " the cuckoo comes with a haw leaf, and leaves with 

 a bere head," is as true here as in most places, for the 

 thorn is late in coming out on the hills, and the old square- 

 headed barley, generally grown, shoots its " seed leaf " 

 early in July. The Cuckoos continued calling lustily 

 at Llanuwchllyn till the first week in July, when 

 every old bird seemed to disappear at once, each year 

 to a day. 



One of the keepers, who had shot a Nightjar in mistake 

 for a hawk, buried it, in place of nailing it to his rail as 

 most birds were served, believing it to be a Cuckoo and 

 having a dread of the ill luck that would follow his action. 

 When the bird was exhumed for my inspection, and was 

 pronounced to be only a Nightjar, he was greatly relieved, 

 and promptly nailed it up beside his other vermin, the old 

 belief being that " he who shoots a cuckoo will shoot nothing 

 else for seven years, unless he breaks the spell by shedding 

 human blood." " A bloody nose for somebody might have 

 done," the man thought, but might have caused trouble ! 



Its resemblance to a hawk upon the wing does not 

 seem to protect the Cuckoo from the depredations of the 

 Sparrow Hawk. I have frequently found its remains at 

 the feeding-places of that bird, and did so twice in the 

 neighbourhood of Llanuwchllyn in 1906 ; on a third 

 occasion one had been devoured, apparently by a Peregrine 

 Falcon, on the moors. In the latter case the Cuckoo was 

 in full blue dress in early May ; in each of the other 

 instances one on I2th the other on 25th June the bird 

 was in partially red plumage, and moulting : one of them 

 was proved, by dissection, to be a female, with several eggs 

 yet undeveloped, but rapidly coming forward, in the ovary. 



