356 
CUCULIDiE. 
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 17th of July, I was gratified with the sight of a hoopoe, 
which alighted on the road before the carriage. 
THE CUCKOO. 
Gowk. 
Cuculus 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. K. 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) in April, and early in May ; and in September : 
it crosses the (Mediterranean) sea direct in both its passages.” p. 1123. 
