1094 The Zoologist— February, 1808. 



" Malisons, malisons roair than ten 

 That harry the Ladye of Heaven's hen ! " 



{Chambers). 



In the Isle of Man, says Simrock, the wren is hunted at Christmas, 

 and any feathers she may drop in her flight are preserved as a charm 

 against shipwreck in the ensuing year. 1 find another account of this 

 superstition in a little work locally printed (' A Sailor-boy's Experience,' 

 Hamilton, 1867), where it is stated that the bird is caught, and some 

 feathers plucked and tossed up in the air, when, according as they 

 fall or are carried away by the wind, the success of the herring 

 fishery is prognosticated. The Germans call the wren " taunkonig " 

 (the hedge-king), and relate that it is the monarch of all flying 

 creatures. A curious story in Grimm's Collection relates how the 

 wren was insulted by the bear, and how it won a victory over the 

 assembled army of the quadrupeds by the help of the gnat. 



Hoapoe. — In Sweden the hoopoe is believed to be the harbinger of 

 war, and even in this country its visits are said to be evil omens. 



Cuckoo. — Very numerous and widely spread are the popular fancies 

 and superstitions regarding this mysterious bird. " Sacred is the spot," 

 says Simrock, " where you first see the swallow or first hear the 

 cuckoo in spring; therefore you must stand still and dig up the 

 ground in this place, for it has healing powers. The cuckoo is also 

 termed the "time-bird" (Zeitvogel), for he can tell what span of life 

 is allotted to us, or how long a maiden must wait for her husband, and 

 Goethe has pre-historic authority when he makes him also foretell the 

 number of her children." (Handb. der Deut. Myth. p. 54 J). So also 

 in Scotland, where it is lucky to be walking when the cuckoo is first 

 heard, sitting when the swallow is first seen, and to see the first foal 

 of the year walking in front of its mother: — 



" Gang and hear the gowk yell, 

 Sit and see the swallow flee, 

 See the foal afore its mither's e'e, 

 'T will be a thriving year wi' ye." 



The Scotch name of "gowk" or "golk," also used in some parts of 

 England, is said by Jamieson and other Scotch scholars to be allied 

 to the ancient Swedish " goek" and the Icelandic "goukr." Broderip 

 derives it from the bird's midsummer note, "an indistinct gowk." 

 (' Zoological Recreations,' p. 79) ; possibly this may be the origin of 

 all these names. My friend Mr. Gray writes me that, in the Hebrides, 



