356 cuculidte. 



All of these birds, except two or three, said to have been met with 

 in summer and in winter, were evidently on migration, a few in 

 spring, and the greater number in autumn; — September and 

 October. The hoopoe generally appears singly. It is remarkable that 

 individuals should frequently wander so far west of the direct line 

 of their migration as this island, either when moving towards the 

 north of Europe for the summer, or towards Africa for the winter. 

 On the 24th and 25th of April, 1841, two or three of these 

 birds alighted, each day, on H.M.S. Beacon, when on the passage 

 from Malta to the Morea, and 50 to 130 miles eastward of Sicily : 

 they rested but for a short time, then proceeded on their north- 

 ward flight.* When travelling from Aix-la-Chapelle to Liege, on 

 the 17 th of July, I was gratified with the sight of a hoopoe, 

 which alighted on the road before the carriage. 



THE CUCKOO. 

 Gowk. 



Cuctikis canorus, Linn. 



Is well known throughout Ireland as a regular spring 

 visitant. 



It has been remarked with respect to Scotland, by Sir. Wm. Jar- 

 dine and Mr. Macgillivray, that localities of almost every character 

 are visited by this bird. It is likewise so in Ireland. The wild 

 and treeless wastes on different portions of the western coast 

 attract it equally with the most highly cultivated and best 

 wooded districts. Mr. R. Ball remarked, when visiting the largest 

 of the south islands of Arran, off Galway bay, accompanied by 

 the late lamented Dean of St. Patrick's, in June, 1835, that 

 cuckoos were particularly abundant there. This island is alto- 

 gether destitute of trees, except at one spot, where some half- 

 dozen appear ; its whole surface is either rocky or covered with a 



* M. Duval-Jouve remarks, in the Zoologist for October, 1845, that — "this beau- 

 tiful species passes (through Provence) iu April, and early in May ; and in September : 

 it crosses the (Mediterranean) sea direct iu both its passages." p. 1123. 



