The return of migrant birds from their wintering grounds in the tropics is one of the delights of America's spring, as anyone will testify whose heart has leapt in April or May at the first liquid song of the woodthrush, or the first black-and-orange flash of the Baltimore oriole. But in recent years concern has grown that migrant birds may be declining, perhaps because of deforestation at their winter quarters in the Caribbean and in Central and South America. Now comes the first evidence that such declines are indeed happening to migrant birds. They pour into the Northern Hemisphere each year in a multi-colored, singing cascade: cuckoos, swallows, martins, swifts, turtle doves, warblers, wagtails, wheatears, chats, nightingales, nightjars, thrushes, pipits, and flycatchers. The vanishing of these Old World birds would be not just an environmental loss but a cultural disaster of enormous magnitude, as many of these species have resonated through literature, legends, and folklore for thousands of years. The turtle dove's arrival is announced in the Bible's Song of Solomon; the nightingale sings from Latin poetry to John Keats to a 1940s hit in London's Berkeley Square; the European cuckoo, with its double note that is a perfect musical interval-a minor third-is the source of proverbs in every country of the continent. In Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo , Michael McCarthy highlights for the first time the disappearance of these birds which, he points out, are a part of Europe's distinctive cultural furniture, "as much as cathedrals, Latin, olive oil, or wine." He shows how their loss would do devastating damage to the cultural inheritance of us all. With 13 woodcuts. “In luminous prose, British writer McCarthy addresses the cultural significance of migratory songbirds, from nightingales to turtle doves to the European Cuckoo, on the heart and soul. . . . A stunning and profound book that will make readers realize how very much these amazing winged creatures matter.” ― Booklist “ Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo is a terribly moving book . . . about the vast numbers of vanishing spring birds.” ―Kristina Chetcuti, Times Of Malta “An elegiac book about migration.” ―Charles Clover, Times Online “'What would it mean to us if the spring-bringers stopped arriving?' Would it be like losing rainbows? Michael McCarthy wonders, or roses or hope or music? It's a new tactic-asking us to imagine our world without the species, sounds and smells we take for granted. And it works. A sense of wonder is replaced with a strange hollow feeling-one part guilt, one part regret and one part denial.” ― Los Angeles Times “Vivid . . . especially affecting. . . . A passionate primer on loss.” ― Times Literary Supplement “This is the most important book I have read for a long time.” ― BBC Countryfile Magazine “A beautiful and important book.” ―Simon Barnes, author of How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher “McCarthy (environmental editor, The Independent, UK) writes eloquently about the losses of European 'spring bringers,' migratory birds which have historically been an important part of the folklore, literature, and culture of people in Europe and North America. Focusing on the 'miraculous aerial river' of birds 'flow[ing] out of Africa into Europe,' the author discusses the radical environmental changes which have been adversely affecting their numbers. Many species are fast disappearing, suggesting the unthinkable: future silent springs. The numbers of different migrant species that failed to return to Britain in the 13 years leading up to 2007 ranged from 37 to 67 percent. Disruptions affecting these birds include climate change, which is also affecting the cycles of plant and insect life on which birds depend; forest losses in the developing world; and human population growth-particularly in Africa. Intensified agricultural practices, such as Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), have taken a further toll. From the early 1960s until 2004, when major revisions were made, this policy featured ecologically unsound use of pesticides and fertilizers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.” ―Choice Reviews “A plea to pay attention to winged creatures before it's too late.” ―The Washington Post “Michael McCarthy details the environmental challenges faced by European cuckoo and other songbirds in England. McCarthy's book is worth reading because many of the problems experienced by these birds also face our own backyard birds here in the United States.” ―The Advocate “The mix of discovery of the real bird with myth, poetry, and legend is simply exquisite. . . . I recommend this book for everyone even remotely interested in birds. I also recommend it for students in ornithology classes or classes where 'sustainability' is a theme, for the book contains a wealth of scientific information melded beautifully with what spring-bringers mean to us.” ―Journal Of Field Ornithology “Michael McCarthy's Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo