BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
southern Europe, occurring regularly at this season m 1 
southern counties of England ; and it winters m Africa 
far south as Abyssinia and Senegambia. 
THE CUCKOO. Cuculus canorus, Linnaeus. 
Local name — Gowk. 
" In the month of Averil, 
The gowk comes o'er the hill 
In a shower of rain." . 
Old Dumfriesshire Saying. 
A common summer- visitant. 
xMr Patrick Dudgeon writing in 1890 of the alleged appear- 
ance of the Cuckoo in Kirkcudbrightshire as early as April 
4th, gives in support of the allegation what he says was the 
Fifeshire version of the above : 
" On the ninth of Averil 
The gowlc comes o'er the hill 
In a shower of rain. 
And on the — of June, 
He turns his time again."* 
Though varying annually in the date of its arrival, the 
male Cuckoo, with his welcome note, may be expected m 
our littoral parishes about April 16th ; and the female 
follows quickly afterwards. It is noticed as a rule that the 
first reports of the bird's arrival hail from the coast, next 
from the vicinity of Lochmaben, then from Canonbie ; and 
it is often ten days after its first appearance that it is reported 
in the upper districts of the county. 
When on migration the Cuckoo is occasionally seen m 
flocks, and Richard Bell records once having seen a party 
numbering several dozens, near Castle O'er (Eskdalemuur).t 
The parasitic habits of this bird are well known, and the 
Rev. C. Swainson says: "The border shepherds declare 
» p. Dudgeon, in litl., to B. Service, May 24th, 1890. 
t My Strange Pets, p. 237. 
