﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  37 
  

  

  Family 
  UPUPHXE. 
  

  

  Upupa 
  epops, 
  L. 
  Hoopoe. 
  

  

  Several 
  have 
  been 
  recorded 
  from 
  the 
  north-east 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  (Fauna 
  of 
  

   Sutherland 
  and 
  Caithness, 
  p. 
  157-8), 
  and 
  others 
  have 
  been 
  obtained 
  

   north 
  of 
  the 
  Ness 
  in 
  1857 
  and 
  July 
  1859, 
  but 
  the 
  exact 
  locality 
  is 
  

   not 
  given 
  in 
  either 
  case 
  (Macleay). 
  St. 
  John 
  says 
  he 
  has 
  never 
  

   seen 
  the 
  bird 
  in 
  Morayshire, 
  but 
  on 
  July 
  27th, 
  1853(1) 
  he 
  had 
  a 
  

   letter 
  from 
  the 
  Dunrobin 
  keeper, 
  saying 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  just 
  killed 
  

   one 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  Golspie. 
  

  

  One 
  was 
  seen 
  about 
  1870 
  up 
  Strath 
  Glass 
  (A. 
  Craig). 
  Another 
  

   was 
  obtained 
  at 
  Beauly 
  in 
  July 
  1879, 
  and 
  a 
  third 
  at 
  Beaufort, 
  July 
  

   6th, 
  1888. 
  

  

  Sub-order 
  COCCYGES 
  ZYGODACTYLI. 
  

   Family 
  CUCULID-E. 
  

  

  Cuculus 
  canorus, 
  L. 
  Cuckoo. 
  

  

  Local 
  Name. 
  — 
  Gowk. 
  

  

  Strangely 
  enough, 
  Hepburn 
  in 
  his 
  1 
  Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Birds 
  of 
  the 
  

   Northern 
  Districts 
  of 
  Inverness-shire' 
  (Zoologist, 
  February 
  1848), 
  

   passes 
  over 
  this 
  common 
  bird 
  in 
  silence. 
  Although 
  the 
  Cuckoo 
  is 
  

   to 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  everywhere, 
  it 
  is 
  perhaps 
  more 
  abundant 
  locally, 
  

   than 
  common 
  in 
  every 
  district. 
  For 
  instance, 
  we 
  have 
  only 
  once 
  

   heard 
  its 
  well-known 
  cry 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Inverness, 
  

   and 
  that 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1892. 
  In 
  the 
  northern 
  portions 
  of 
  

   our 
  area 
  Cuckoos 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  partial 
  to 
  the 
  wilder 
  and 
  

   partially 
  wooded 
  straths. 
  

  

  A 
  common 
  summer 
  visitant, 
  more 
  abundant 
  some 
  seasons 
  

   than 
  others. 
  Dates 
  of 
  arrival 
  are 
  given 
  : 
  — 
  April 
  28th, 
  heard 
  at 
  

   Dallas 
  (1849); 
  Birnie, 
  29th 
  April 
  (1886); 
  1880, 
  March 
  14th, 
  at 
  

   Forres 
  (Dr. 
  Innes), 
  1844; 
  29th 
  April 
  1886, 
  near 
  Elgin 
  (Dr. 
  George 
  

   Gordon) 
  — 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Moray, 
  q.v. 
  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  supposes 
  it 
  to 
  arrive 
  

   some 
  weeks 
  before 
  it 
  utters 
  its 
  note. 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  designates 
  

   it 
  as 
  1 
  common, 
  but 
  not 
  very 
  abundant.' 
  It 
  arrives, 
  he 
  says, 
  early 
  

   in 
  May, 
  and 
  departs 
  in 
  July 
  or 
  August, 
  but 
  we 
  think 
  these 
  dates 
  

   are 
  not 
  extended 
  enough. 
  Mr. 
  Brown 
  says 
  further 
  it 
  frequents 
  

   parks 
  and 
  plantations 
  bordered 
  by 
  fields 
  and 
  pasture-fields, 
  woods 
  

  

  