BRITISH BIRDS. 87 



two other closely allied species which inhabit Australia never leave the 

 country at all. The Long-tailed Cuckoo (^Eudynamis taitiensis), which comes 

 to us from the equable climate of the South- Sea Islands, cannot be supposed 

 to have its migrations caused either by alteration of temperature or by want 

 of food. / 



"Another remarkable fact that has been quite lately brought to light is 

 that the shining Cuckoo of the Chatham Islands is not the same variety as 

 that visiting New Zealand, but is almost, if not quite, identical with an 

 Australian species (C.plagosus). This curious fact proves how strong must be 

 the force of habit ; for these birds, in their migration to and from the Chatham 

 Islands, must pass over, or at least in sight of. New Zealand ; but instead 

 of stopping, after a journey of 1400 miles, they continue on for 450 more, 

 until they reach the little island that they have selected as their home." 



Mr. Harting, in his ' Handbook of British Birds,' p. 124, gives five 

 instances of the occurrence of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (^Cucidus americanus, 

 Linn.) ; of these, two are in Ireland, and three on the western coast of England. 

 Query, did these birds fly straight across from America, as their several 

 localities would appear to intimate "^ or how did they get to the British Isles ? 



In the P. Z. S. 1872, p. 496, " Mr. Sclater exhibited a skin of the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo of the U. S. of America (^Coccijzus americanus^, which had 

 been shot by Mr. W. H. Hudson at Quilines, Buenos Ayres, April 21, 1870," 

 the only example of this bird he had ever obtained. " Mr. Sclater exhibited 

 specimens of this widely wandering species from Jamaica, Mexico, and the 

 U. S. of Columbia." 



One thing appears clearly, that migratory impulse is not climatal : it 

 affects birds alike in the Arctic regions, perhaps even to the pole, and on the 

 equator ; and how far to the south, our knowledge of the Antarctic regions 

 is too small for us to determine. The limits of its action are unknown ; if it 

 has any other than those of this planet. Mr. Robert O. Cunningham states, 

 ' Strait of Magellan,' p. 319 : — " We often saw specimens of a tiny Humming- 

 bird (Ti'ochilus forficatus) in the channels, in strange contrast with the gloomy 



