264 Weather and Natural History Notes, 1910. 



The Water Ouzel, Cinclus aqiiaiicus, was pouring forth its brilli- 

 ant and cheery song on the 10th. First saw Comet, 1910 (alias 

 The Daylight Comet, or The African Comet) on the 24th. 

 Whilst myself and every other observer with small telescopes were 

 spending an hour or so on each suitable evening with the instru- 

 ment directed to a certain spot in the constellation Pisces, look- 

 ing for the first glimpse of Halley's Comet, this magnificent 

 object, complete in its majestic splendour, came suddenly into 

 view, a little behind the sun — a perfect model of what a comet 

 should be, with head, neck, and tail, of a beautiful pale gold 

 colour, quite easily seen in twilight with the naked eye. I 

 measured the length of the tail on the 24th. It was from 8 to 10 

 degrees. 



February. — The first 10 days were mild and cloudy, very 

 little sunshine, and a little rain each day. After the 11th squally 

 stonny weather set in. There were several heavy gales with wind 

 from the W. and S.W. There were no periods of intense cold. 

 There was frost at intervals, but not severe. There was a little 

 snow on the 15th, and distant thunder on the 21st and 25th. 

 The last week was mild with an E., N., and N.E. wind. 

 Although rain fell on every day except the 8th there were no 

 heavy floods. On several mornings near the end of the month the 

 birds were singing all round. The white head of the snowdrop 

 (G. nivalis) was hanging over on the 7th. The Hazel (Corylus 

 avellana) came into bloom on the 24th. First heard the Mavis 

 (Tiirdus musiciis) on the 20th. Highest maximum temperatu/e, 

 52 deg., on the 19th; lowest, 39 deg., on the 24th; highest mini- 

 mum, 43 deg., on the 6th; lowest, 22 deg., on the 9th; lowest on 

 the grass, 17 deg., on the 8th. Frost on the grass on 19 days; in 

 the screen on 12 days. The barometer ranged from 28.3 in. It 

 quickly fell to this point from 29 in. on the 19th, at 6.30 p.m., 

 Avhen there was a high wind. The highest record of the baro- 

 meter was 30.3, on the 8th. 



March. — The morning of the 1st was fine, the sun shining, 

 birds singing, and a white hoar on the ground, which was followed 

 by a stormy, wet night. On the 2nd we had the heaviest flood on 

 the Cluden which had been for 35 years. It was up to the floor 

 of the wooden footbridge at Jardington Ford. There was thunder 

 on the 9th, and wet, stormy night. With these two exceptions, 

 March was a month of spring, with temperature above the ave- 



