WHERE THE BIRDS COME FROM.
[To TEE EDITOR OF THE g`SPECTATOR."1
Sin,—In the article on this subject in your issue of March 22nd it is stated that it would be interesting to know if the cuckoo gives the same call when in Natal as it does in England, that is, presuming it migrates to the former when leaving the latter. To be in a position to express a reliable opinion a person ought to be able to say he had actually seen cuckoos in Natal. I cannot do so, but having lived for ten years at Nottingham Road, which is one of the best watered and wooded districts of the Colony, and living in a house surrounded with blue-gums, apple trees, and hundreds of peach trees, I could not have failed to have heard the distinct and unique cry of the cuckoo if the bird in that part of the world emitted the same sound as it does in England; but on no occasion did I do so. Swallows were our annual visitors, and two pairs nested regularly above the door in the verandah ; the bunch never exceeded three or four nests. Ringdoves made their nests in the willow trees, and their cooing was the same as in England.—I am, Sir, &c., JAMES B. SHERRIN.
67 St. Stephen's Avenue, Shepherd's Bush.
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