Meteorological Observations. 295 



as long as the inner toe, and has a large pad at its base ; the outer 

 toe is shortest ; the claws are much hooked. 



Coutents of stomach were a few grains of Holcus spicatus and the 

 exuviae of insects. 



Plumage is soft and loose. 



Colours : the whole top of the head is covered with a cap of black. 

 Bill lead-colour at base and black at the point. The chin, the breast, 

 and all underneath white ; the body all above of a leaden colour. 

 Quills and tail of a light black, edged with light on both webs ; the 

 outer web of the outer tail-feather is white, as well as the tips of the 

 first five on each side. Feet and legs black. 



I propose for this species the nsnae of Arfamus cucullatus, — Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. June 10, 1851. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR AUG. 1853. 



Chiswici. — August 1. Uniformly overcast : very fine : rain at night. 2. Very 

 fine. 3. Uniform haze : clear. 4 — 8. Very fine. 9. Slight haze : very fine : 

 •clear. 10. Very fine. 11. Slight fog. 12. Cloudy and fine. 13. Overcast. 

 14. Cloudy. 15. Cloudy and fine. 16. Uniformly overcast: rain. 17. Very 

 fine. 18. Slight fog : very fine ; clear. 19. Foggy : very fine : slight rain. 20. 

 Slight rain : cloudy and fine. 21. Very fine. 22. Fine: cloudy: heavy rain at 

 night. 23. Rain : cloudy : clear. 24. Dense fog : dusky haze : fine. 25. Over- 

 cast : slight showers : boisterous, vrith rain at night. 26. Very boisterous 

 throughout. In this and the preceding day a large quantity of air from the south 

 must have moved over the kingdom. 27. Cloudy and rather boisterous. 28. Clear 

 and very fine. 29. Overcast: very fine. 30,31. Very fine. 



Mean temperature of the month 59°'69 



Mean temperature of Aug. 1852 63 "67 



Mean temperature of Aug. for the last twenty-seven years . 62 -12 

 Average amount of rain in Aug 2'35 inches. 



Boston. — Aug. 1. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 2. Fine. 3. Cloudy. 4. Fine. 

 5—8. Cloudy. 9—11. Fine. 12—15. Cloudy. 16. Cloudy: rain a.m. 17. 

 Cloudy : rain p.m. 18. Fine. 19. Cloudy. 20. Cloudy : rain a.m. 21, 22. Fine. 

 •23. Cloudv: rain A.M. 24. Fine : rain p.m. 25. Cloudy: rain a.m. 26. Rain a.m. 

 and P.M. "27. Cloudy: rain a.m. 28, 29. Cloudy. 30, 31. Fine. 



Sandioiek Manse, Orkney. — Aug. 1 . Drizzle a.m. : rain, fair p.m. 2. Cloudy a.m. : 

 damp P.M. 3. Showers a m. : fair p.m. 4. Cloudy a.m. : showers p.m. 5. Cloudy 

 a.m. : drizzle p.m. 6. Drizzle a.m. and p.m. 7, 8. Cloudy a m. and p.m. 9. 

 Bright A.M. : clear p.m. 10. Clear a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 11. Bright a.m. : cloudy 

 P.M. 12. Cloudy a.m. : fine p.m. 13, 14. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 15. Damp a.m. : 

 cloudy P.M. 16. Cloudy A.M. : clear, fine p.m. 17. Showers a.m. : clear, fine 

 P.M. 18. Clear A.M. : clear, fine p.m. 19. Damp a.m. : thunder and lightning, 

 showers p.m. 20. Bright a.m. : thunder and lightning, showers p.m. 21. Bright 

 A.M. : clear p.m. 22. Bright a.m. : showers p.m. 23. Cloudy a.m. : showers p.m. 

 24. Blight A.M. : clear, aurora p.m. 25. Clear, fine a.m. : drizzle p.m. 26. Rain 

 A.M.: cloudy P.M. 27. Rain a.m : damp p.m. 28. Damp a.m. : drizzle p.m. 

 29. Damp a.m. : cloudy p.m. 30. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 31. Bright a.m. : 

 drizzle p.m. 



Mean temperature of Aug. for twenty-six previous years 55''08 



Mean temperature of this month 55 "98 



Mean temperature of Aug. 1852 60 '64 



Average quantity of rain in Aug. for seven previous years ... 2-70 mches. 



On the 24th, from 9^ till 10 p.m., a comet was seen with a long bright tail, 

 about 5° above the horizon in the N.W. The nucleus like a star of the first mag- 

 nitude. 



