BIRD-LIFE OF THE WOODS AND GROVES. I// 



bird which we often notice amongst the trees; it 

 is, however, by no means confined to woods, but 

 is distributed over most districts that are well 

 timbered. Both the Robin and the Wren may- 

 be met with in the woods, the latter bird 

 especially; while the Cuckoo makes them ring 

 again with its cheery song from April onwards 

 to June. We have repeatedly remarked that 

 the number of these birds varies considerably 

 from year to year. The present season, in this 

 part of Devonshire, has been somewhat remark- 

 able for the scarcity of the Cuckoo, and its notes 

 have not been heard to anything like the extent 

 that they were the previous summer. Last year a 

 young Cuckoo made his appearance on a lawn 

 here, and was fed most industriously day after 

 day by a pair of Wagtails. Odd examples of this 

 species are sometimes observed in Devonshire 

 very late in the autumn, even up to the middle 

 of October. The Goatsucker is another dweller 

 in the wooded districts, arriving towards the end 

 of April or early in May. This bird, however, 

 is more partial to the outskirts of the woods 

 than to their remoter portions, fond of the open 



bracken and bush-covered ground by their borders, 



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