AMONG THE BIRDS IN SPRING. 15 



and by the end of the month the Cuckoo's note S 

 rings clearly out from the woods and groves. Aprfi. l8t 

 This blithe harbinger of summer follows the 

 spring-time northwards from his winter retreats 

 in South Africa as that season gradually spreads 

 over Central and Northern Europe. With the 

 earliest dawn of spring in South Europe he makes 

 his appearance, towards the end of March ; but 

 ventures no farther on his travels until the April 

 sunshine woos the dormant vegetation back to life. 

 Thus in England he does not arrive until towards 

 the end of April ; in Scotland a week later still ; 

 and in the Arctic regions not before the beginning 

 of June. As with most of our summer migrants, 

 the male Cuckoos are the first to appear, the 

 females a few days later. Nor do these male 

 birds utter their blithesome notes until the lady 

 Cuckoos join them ; consequently the Cuckoo's cry 

 by no means proclaims the exact date of the bird's 

 arrival. Many other migratory birds are similar 

 in this respect. From the last week of April to 

 the beginning of June, the Cuckoo is perhaps the 

 most prominent bird of the woods and fields. 

 His rich, loud, far-sounding notes echo from the 

 wide expanse of woodland, from the trees in the 

 meadows and the hedgerows, from the alders by 

 the river-side, from the coppices and spinneys, 

 from the moors, the mountains, and the heaths. 

 With the voice of the Cuckoo some of the 

 pleasantest moments of the whole year are 

 inseparably associated. His happy notes are the 



