METEOKOLOGY OF THE MIDLANDS. 139 



METEOKOLOGY OF THE MIDLANDS. 

 THE WEATHEB OF APBLL, 1880. 



BY W. JEROME HARRISON. F.G.S. 



April, true to its traditions, brought some very changeable weather' 

 The first week was wet and stormy, with strong south-west winds, and 

 thunderstorms on the 5th and 6th. Then the wind changed, and con- 

 tinued cold and dry from the north-east for the rest of the month. Bain 

 fell frequently, but in small quantities ; there was a hailstorm on the 

 26th. Sky generally cloudy, although there were a few bright days, and 

 only one or two frosty nights. Lunar halo seen at Loughborough on 19th. 

 Vegetation generally backward, but in advance of 1879. General indica- 

 tions taken in connection with the re-appearance of sun-spots and auroras 

 point to a cessation of wet seasons and a hot summer. 



Natubal Histoby Notes by Obseevees. — Coventry. — The rainfall of 

 April has not been up to the average, and during a great part of the 

 month we have had cold and drying winds from the north-east. The 

 weather has not been such as to force a rapid growth of vegetation, but 

 the continued drying process which the land has been sustaining is for 

 the most part very favourable. The spring-sown grain has been well got 

 in, and has come up healthy and regular, and the low-lying meadows 

 are again becoming dry and sound. It is only by walking over the low 

 or ill-drained land that one can realise the astonishing deterioration 

 which frequent floods and wet seasons have produced. In many places 

 which used to be good pasture, the finer grasses have nearly disappeared, 

 and have been supplanted by a growth of coarse water weeds and sedges. 

 The spring can scarcely be said to be an early one, but still it is much 

 in advance of last year. The elms and the hedges are already green 

 with leaf, and everything is in a condition to make a very rapid growth 

 if we have warm rains. The fruit trees promise quite as well for 

 blossom as might be expected, considering that the fruit-bearing wood was 

 ill-ripened by the cold summer of 1879. At Stoke, I notice that the trees 

 which have the best appearance of blossom are those which happen to 

 have their trunks protected by a growth of ivy or woodbine around them. 

 Uppingham. — Primus spinosa in flower by April 10th ; Vicia sepium, 10th ; 

 Cardamine pratensis, Geranium Robertianum, and Primula veris, 11th ; 

 Anthriscus sylvestris, 14th ; Veronica Chamozdrys, 27th ; Stellaria Holostea, 

 28th ; Ajuga reptans, 29th ; Chiff-chaff ( Phylloscopus collybita) and "Willow 

 Wren (P. trochilas) heard on 4th ; Nightingale (Daulias luscinia,) 17th ; 

 Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus,) 27th; Swallow (Hirundo rustica,) seen 23rd. 

 Wrottesley. — Swallows first seen on April 19th ; Cuckoo first heard, 24th ; 

 Plums and Cherries in bloom, 26th, nearly a month earlier than last year. 

 Wo&lstaston Rectory. — Cuckoo first heard on 27th. Shifnal. — Young Books 

 hatched on 9th, Sand Martins arrived on 12th, wild Cherry blossoms on 

 19th, when first Swallow (H. rustica) seen ; Willow Wrens arrived on 24th, 

 Cuckoo heard 26th, Damson trees in full bloom on 27th. Stratford-upon- 

 Avon. — Swallows seen, 16th ; Oak leafing, 20th ; Ash makes no sign as 

 yet. Coston, Melton Mowbray. — Cuckoo heard, 27th. More Rectory. — 

 Garden Warblers arrived, 6th ; Swallows, 22nd ; Bedstarts, 30th. Burton- 

 on- Trent.— Horse Chestnut leaf, 12th ; large white Butterfly, 3rd ; 

 Queen Wasp, 4th. A Itarnun.— Cuckoo heard, 19th ; Water Ousel's nest 

 and eggs found on 17th; Whortleberry in abundant flower on 20th. 

 Stroud.— Cuckoo heard, 28th. Oakamoor— Cuckoo heard, 18th. Orleton. 

 —Swallows on 21st ; Chiff-chaff, 24th ; Cuckoo, 23rd. Bishop's Castle. — 

 Martins seen here on 30th, but at Clun on 27th ; Cuckoo not yet heard 

 (May 1st) probably owing to dry weather, as I observe him to be more 



