Early Cuckoos The cuckoo arrives, or at least announces itself,
earlier every year. During the third week of February it was heard in several widely distant parts of the country. Some people maintain that late-hatched cuckoos remain in the country over the winter. It is conceivable, then, that these would begin calling in any early spell of mild and bright weather. There remains the problem of food for any early immigrant, and, having regard to its peculiar domestic habits, there seems little advantage in the cuckoo's arriving in England before its indispensable witless hosts have got their nests ready. The trouble is, this year the cuckoo has been seen, as well as heard, by witnesses who could hardly have been mistaken, One has only to know the village boy, however, to realize how very unreliable is the evidence of a cuckoo's presence from hearing his call. To the lad who can imitate the songs of most birds and all of the characteristic noises of the farm- yard, the major third of the cuckoo is simplicity itself.
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