the login man page:
If the file .hushlogin exists, then a "quiet" login is
performed (this disables the checking of the checking of
mail and the printing of the last login time and message
of the day). Otherwise, if /var/log/lastlog exists, the
last login time is printed (and the current login is
recorded).
<snip>
Last, if this is
not a "quiet" login, the message of the day is printed and
the file with the user's name in /usr/spool/mail will be
checked, and a message printed if it has non-zero length.
note that bash can also be verbose about new mail coming ...
hope this helps
pascal
