224 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



BIRDS. 



Early arrival of the Cuckoo in 1894. — In spite of the rather dogmatic 

 assertion of the Editor (p. 189) that " in no instance, so far as he is aware, 

 has the Cuckoo been heard or seen (by any competent observer) before the 

 6th of .April," I must beg to record my humble testimony on the point, 

 leaving others to judge, as may seem good to them, of my competency. 

 On April 1st of this year, 1894, two of my sons reported to me that they 

 had both heard and seen a Cuckoo; as both of them are, in my judgment, 

 competent observers, I did not doubt their accuracy, and the next day, 

 April 2nd, I myself had the pleasure of hearing one repeatedly. This 

 date is no doubt, in my own experience of, now going on I am sorry to 

 say for sixty years, exceptionally early, — the earliest in fact that I have 

 ever recorded. It may interest some naturalists if I add here the dates 

 of the first hearing or seeing, or both, of the Cuckoo which I have recorded 

 since 1866. In some years I made no record, being perhaps away from 

 home, or otherwise unable to believe that the first time I heard or saw a 

 Cuckoo was any real or approximate date of its first arrival here : — 1867, 

 April 18th; 1868, 14th; 1869, 9th; 1870, 13th; 1871, 12th; 1872, 

 13th; 1873, 13th; 1887, 14th; 1891, 19th; 1894, 1st. The latest date 

 at which the Cuckoo is heard is also, it seems to me, a point of interest. 

 On this I have the following notes : — " July 3rd, 1891. Heard three 

 Cuckoos this evening; one quite hoarse. July 5th, 1891. Heard one 

 again to-day." — 0. P. Cambridge (Bloxworth, Dorset). 



[The Editor's statement to which our valued correspondent takes 

 exception was actually published nearly twenty years ago, i. e., in 1875, in 

 ' Our Summer Migrants.' We do not know why it should now be 

 characterized as " dogmatic," seeing that it is confirmed by the observations 

 of Mr. Borrer, extending over more than thirty years, as made known by 

 him in 1891 in his ' Birds of Sussex,' and by the deductions of Mr. South- 

 well (p. 190) from records kept for the much longer period of 106 years. 

 Moreover, even now, no date earlier than April 9th is adduced by Mr. 

 Cambridge (except that noted for the present year), while the average for 

 the ten years' observations given by him is from the 12th to the 13th of 

 April.— Ed.]. 



Cuckoo seen in March. — Like other correspondents (Zool. 1894, 

 p. 3 89), I am no believer in the March Cuckoo. I have regularly taken 

 notes of its first appearance, and in thirty-one years, between 1863 and 

 1894, the earliest date that I have heard it in North Lincolnshire was on 

 April 14th (1 869), the latest, May 1st (in 1873). The earliest date I have 

 ever heard it in England was April 8th, 1894, at Tuubridge Wells. — John 

 Cobdeaux (Great Cotes House, R.S.O., Lincoln). 



Early laying of the Cuckoo. — It may be interesting to note the 

 early laving of the Cuckoo this year in Somersetshire. My son took an 



