246 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
bottom of the nest with its claws, like a hawk, with such pertinacity that 
I allowed it to remain.—R. P. Harper (Scarborough). 
Cuckoo feeding its Young.—The following observations are condensed 
from a MS. note by the late Mr. Harley, of Leicester :—It is remarkable 
that, although the Cuckoo takes no part in nidification nor incubation, its 
eggs being entrusted to the care of other birds, yet, when its offspring is 
on the wing, I have noticed its anxiety to provide for it. Ornithologists 
appear to have overlooked this fact. In September, 1854, I was on a visit 
to a friend, when my attention was directed towards a Cuckoo which 
lingered about the outlet and orchard surrounding the house. Walking 
beside a tall hedge which bounded the outlet and fenced in a number of 
hayricks, I was one day startled by the Cuckoo, as it glided by me, and 
alighted on a cross-rail hard by. Remaining perfectly still, I saw a young 
one, just fledged, approach the spot where the old bird was, and shortly 
afterwards I saw the latter engaged feeding it. In the course of the day, 
in company with a friend, I observed the parent Cuckoo performing a 
similar task, after which she fled away at our approach, and was lost in an 
adjoining thicket.—(Communicated by Mr. M. Browne, Leicester). 
Ornithological Notes from Germany.—The weather in this part of 
Germany, after a very severe winter, began to break up on March 20th; 
and about this date, and even before, many summer migrants began to 
arrive. Sky Larks (Feldlerchen) appeared on March Sth, and White and 
Pied Wagtails (Bachstelzen) on the 19th, but the pied species only remained 
a few days; and now (March 31st) the White Wagtails have already begun 
to build; every night a flock of forty or fifty of these birds roost in some 
bushes overhanging the water, and they sit very close together, probably for 
warmth. On March 16th a large flock of Carrion Crows (Raben), Jackdaws 
(Dohlen), and Rooks (which have been very scarce all the winter) were 
observed migrating north-eastwards, at a considerable elevation. On the 
22nd March a flock of Peewits (Kiebitze) settled in some meadows here to 
rest, but afterwards continued their flight in a northerly direction,—the 
wind was south,—and the next day I saw another flock fying north-east, 
the wind being east. ‘The most interesting fact, however, in connection 
with the spring migration has been the extraordinary migration of Cranes 
(Kraniche), of which great numbers have passed over; the first flight that 
I observed, consisting of from eighty to one hundred birds, flew over on 
March 28rd, and rested for a short time in a stubble-field near until they 
were disturbed by a gun being discharged at them, when they flew off in a 
long line towards the north-east. Shortly after this flock had gone no less 
than nine more flocks flew over, towards the north, each consisting of from 
forty to one hundred or more birds, the wind being east and the weather very 
fine. ‘The Robin (Rothkehlchen) and Song Thrush (Drossel), as well as the 
