308 THE ^'EATHEE OF SEPTEMBER. 



The rainfall on tlie whole is below the average for the month, and so 

 too is the temperatui-e. The barometer has been unsteady, and westerly ' 

 winds have blown on about twenty-four days, thus laz-gely preponderating. 

 Solar halos are recorded from Oxfoi'd on the 3rd and 4th, and lunar haloa 

 on the 3rd, 13th, and 16th. A fine aurora was seen at Cheltenham on 

 the night of the 6th, the luminous streams reaching quite up to the 

 zenith. The last swjillows left the neighbourhood of Stroud on the 30th, 

 and the same date is recorded for their departure from Coventry. 

 Probably the storm of that day was the signal for a general exodus of 

 these feathered migi-ants. On the 29th six snipe were seen in the 

 meadows by the Kiver Nene. Near Stroud the wood strawberry 

 (Fragaria i^csca) was seen in blossom, and (unripe) fruit on the 19th. 

 Several observers remark on the comparative absence of butterflies this 

 season. 



White Variety of Harebell. — It will, perhaps, be interesting to 

 " H." (page 106) to know that I have found during the past summer 

 several white specimens of the Campanula rotundifolia, within six miles of 

 Aberystwith. They wei'e all of a piu-e white, and, though there was an 

 abundance of the blue, I could in no place find any of a shade between 

 the two. Last year I found a specimen of the primrose, perfectly white, 

 near Bamt Green. — H. D. 



NoTTi>joHAMSHiRE Ferns. — Perhaps the foUowiug list of ferns found 

 in North Nottinghamshire vdU be interesting to some readers of the 

 " Midland Naturalist." They have all been found either at Pleasley 

 Vale, (Notts, side,) CresweU Crags, (Notts, side,) or the Woods at 

 Welbeck, by Mr. R. A. Eolfe : — PoJupodium vulgare, PohjsticJmm anguhire, 

 Lastraa filix-mas, L. cristata,L. dilatata, AthijriumJiUx-fiEmina, Asplenium 

 ruta-muraria, A. trichomanes, Scolopendrium vulgare, Pteris aquilina, and 

 Cystopteris fragilis. — C. T. Musson. 



The Cuckoo's Note. — In Norfolk they have a saying — 



In May he sings all day. 



In June he changes his tune. 



In July away he'll fly. 



In August go he must. 

 I believe that this is a tolerably correct account of his proceedings ; 

 and I suppose that the action in July is borne out by his being seen on 

 the wing in that month more than in the other mouths. — G. B. R. B., 

 Nottingham. 



Jtjniok Members. — It has often occurred to me that it would be a 

 wise plan if our Natural History Societies would offer facilities for 

 intelhgcnt youths, under eighteen years of age, to become members, 

 (they might be called associates,) for in them would, I feel sure, 

 bo found the best material out of which valuable working members 

 of the future would naturally be developed. As youths are not usually 

 overburdened with money, the subscription they should be called upon 

 to pay should be as nearly nominal as possible ; at the same time 

 they should bo treated with encouraging courtesy to warm them to 

 working pitch. They should bo made to feel that they are valued, 

 and good results would invariably ensue. I have no hesitation in 

 asking the Societies to give the subject due consideration. — B. W. E. 



