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317 



FIELD NOTES. 

 BIRDS. 

 Early Arrival of the Swift. — Referring to Mr. Fortune's 

 note on page 254, in the Wilsden district odd individuals 

 arrive in April, but at rare intervals. Its departure, however, 

 is very much more erratic, for while most of them leave 

 somewhat early, individuals are often to seen very late in 

 the season, for this species. — E. P. Butterfield. 



Early Arrival of the Cuckoo.— Mr. Fortune heard the 

 Cuckoo on the i8th April, this being the earliest date he has 

 for that district. I note that Mr. Fortune, in announcing 

 the Cuckoo's arrival, writes, ' I heard him,' which can leave 

 no one in doubt as to the sex of the bird he heard, but I would 

 like to ask, can Mr. Fortune, or anyone else, be absolutely 

 sure that the female Cuckoo does not occasionally utter the 

 well-known cry, ' Cuckoo ' ? — E. P. Butterfield. 



The word ' him ' was used inadvertently in an impersonal 

 sense. I am not certain that the female does not utter the 

 well-known cry. I think she does. Some years ago when 

 photographing from a tent near Filey, I witnessed at some 

 distance away what I took to be the act of copulation between 

 two cuckoos, after which they flew away in different 

 directions, both calling ' cuckoo ' as they flew. This, of 

 course, is not conclusive, but in my own mind I was quite 

 satisfied that in this case both the male and the female called. 

 — -R. Fortune. 



Fulmar Petrels at the Fame Islands. — It is interesting 

 to note in connexion with the movement of Fulmar Petrels 

 on the East Coast during the breeding season, that in the 

 years 1919, 1920 and 1921, several of these birds frequented 

 the cliffs of the Fame. In company with my friend Jasper 

 Atkinson, I spent several days on the Fame group in July 

 of this year. We were four days on the Fame. Upon our 

 arrival, we were told about the Fulmars, but although we 

 kept a careful look out, and especially in the evening, we were 

 not lucky enough to get a sight of them. The watchers told 

 me that Miss Mary Best, a competent observer, had seen 

 them. I therefore wrote to her, and she kindly informs me 

 that she saw four birds at least. She spent one afternoon 

 under the lighthouse wall from 2 p.m. to 8.30 p.m., and saw 

 two brown birds sailing past the cliff frequently, as if wishing 

 to land, and at 8-30 a bird flew out of the cliff just below 

 her. The boatman from Holy Island, who was with her, 

 and knew the bird well, had seen them fishing between Holy 

 Island and the Fames since April, and has seen them about 

 there during and since 1919. I spent a week on the island 



1921 Sept. 1 



