442 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the egg is small compared with the size of the bird. The food of the 

 cuckoo consists of insects and their larva?, among them hairy caterpillars. 

 In the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of 1862 the following 

 statement is made : — " By careful observation it was ascertained that a 

 cuckoo devours one caterpillar every five minutes, or 170 in a long day. 

 If we assume that one-half of the destroyed insects are females, and that 

 each contains about 500 eggs, one single cuckoo daily prevents the repro- 

 duction of 42,500 destructive caterpillars." * 



W. Swaysland, in "Familiar Wild Birds," says the note "cuckoo" is 

 nearly always uttered while the bird is flying, or immediately after settling, 

 and this circumstance may possibly explain the fact that the cuckoo is 

 silent in captivity. The parent cuckoos have left the country before the 

 young birds are ready to migrate. From a gardener's point of view, 

 except for the fact that it destroys the eggs and young of insectivorous 

 birds, the cuckoo is a useful bird, feeding on the caterpillars of Ermine 

 moths, woolly bears, Magpie moth, and the larva? of the Gooseberry 

 sawfly. It especially feeds on hairy larva?, such as these of the Lackey, 

 Vapourer, and Gold and Brown Tail moths. 



Turtle Dove : Turtur communis. 



The turtle dove is sometimes harmful in a garden, especially to peas, 

 but is not very common. In some of the eastern counties (Cambridge, 

 Beds, Hunts), it is fairly abundant, and flocks do harm to field peas and 

 tares. Mr. Frederick Smith says the turtle dove is very fond of fumitory ; 

 and Mr. J. Boorman, that in some districts it feeds largely on chickweed 

 seeds. 



Hawfinch : Coccotliraustes vulgaris. 



The Guide to the British Birds of the Natural History Museum says 

 that the hawfinch is a resident throughout Great Britain, and has been 

 known to breed in every county in England, except Cornwall, but its 

 habits are so shy and retiring that it may easily escape detection. 



R. B. Lodge says in " The Birds and their Story " that " these birds 

 are increasing, and perhaps this is due to their very silent and wary ways 

 during nesting, but its partiality to green peas endangers its life at the 

 hands of the gardener. This bird is noticeable by its large beak and the 

 white iris of its eye. It eats the kernels of hard seeds and stone fruits 

 (plums, bullaces, cherries), which it is able to crush with its strong bill ; 

 it then rejects the fruit and eats the kernels ; it pecks apples and pears in 

 search for the pips, and it also feeds on nuts. It destroys the buds of 

 plums and pears to a very considerable extent, but in many districts it is 

 rare. 



Jay : Garrulus glanclarius. 



This beautiful bird is decreasing, mainly owing to the severe treatment 

 of it by gamekeepers, who detest it as a devourer of eggs and young 

 birds. 



* Destructive Insects and the Immense Utility of Birds, by Frederic de Tschudi. of 

 Switzerland. 



