ANIMAL WEATHER-LORE. 641 



crew differently then, and said, " Christmas — come — and — gone ! " 

 I accepted the explanation. This is not a weather matter, but is not 

 irrelevant, as it shows how very common it once was to couple any 

 unusual occurrence with something sooner or later to happen, and 

 therefore, in the matter of weather especially, to claim it as prophetic 

 of that event. 



Of the examples of weather-lore of birds, the following are not 

 uncommonly heard in Central New Jersey. Of the cardinal-grossbeak, 

 or winter redbird, it is said : 



" The redbird lies, without regret : 

 However dry, it whistles ' wet! ' " 



That is, the bird is credited with knowing it will not rain, and 

 teases the farmer by singing "wet " in his ears all day. Others put 

 another meaning on the redbird's note, and claim it to be a sure sign 

 of rain. This is more like the ordinary sayings commonly heard, and 

 let us give it a moment's consideration. At present, the time of year 

 when the cardinal-birds sing least is during the hot summer months. 

 Not that they are absolutely mute for even a few days at a time, but 

 relatively so as compared with their joyous strains through autumn 

 and winter ; and again, early in summer, when tbey are nesting, these 

 birds, like robins, are more apt to sing directly after a shower than at 

 any other time. 



So much for the gay cardinal as a weather-prophet. The rare 

 summer redbird — a tanager — which also utters a whistling note, well 

 described by the syllable " wet," shortly and sharply expressed, is like- 

 wise said to prophesy rain. The probabilities are that the note of the 

 redbird, cardinal and summer, suggesting the word " wet," has given 

 rise to the belief that their utterance was a sign of a coming shower 

 or storm. It is often by such illogical methods that these sayings 

 have become established. After a few repetitions they become fixed 

 in the mind and their origin forgotten ; they are invested with an 

 importance not their due, and not attributed to them by their origi- 

 nators. Ultimately tbey are incorporated in the weather-lore of the 

 country. 



Of the innumerable swallows, it is said, with as little show of reason : 



" No rain e'er poured upon the earth, 

 That damped the twittering swallow's mirth." 



No ? Well, of late, the whole host takes refuge from storms — the 

 barn-swallows in the hay-mow, the cliff-swallows under the eaves, the 

 sand-martins in their burrows, and the chimney-swifts in their sooty 

 homes in the chimneys. Why this change of habit ? For a wonder- 

 ful change must have taken place, if the couplet quoted was ever true. 

 I do admit that swallows and swifts appear to be noisier before and 

 during a shower ; but does not this arise from the fact that at such 

 a time they collect in great numbers near their nests, to take refuge, 



VOL. XXVIII. — 41 



