234 THE WEATHER OF JULY. 
July proved a rainy, ungenial month, with an average temperature of 
from four to five degrees below the average. Cloudy skies, with south- 
westerly winds, often strong, prevailed till the last week of the month,when 
there were a few bright summer-like days. The barometer was unsteady 
and not high. Severe and general thunderstorms occurred on the 13th 
and 14th. MHay-cutting not general till the 27th, and all farming opera- 
tions much hindered and damaged by the weather. From the 11th to 
the 17th, the wind blew from the east, and fogs are reported from several 
stations. Solar and lunar halos were seen at Nottingham on the 
30th. 
Natrurat History Notes py OpserveRs.—More Rectory.—The curlews 
have been restless during the month, crossing our valley to the neigh- 
bouring hills. Ashby Magna.—Fruit and flowers, as well as vegetables, 
very backward. Hay harvest did not begin in this parish till July 15th; 
much has been well got in the last three days of the month. Waltham- 
le-Wold.—Wheat not in ear till the 20th. Hundreds of acres of oats and 
barley will not come into ear at all. Bees, both old stocks and new 
swarms, are starving. Loughborough.—Harvest operations fully six weeks 
late. Burton-on-Trent.—lst, wild Yellow Iris, fl.; 4th, Elder, fi., first 
hay cut; 9th, White Rose, fl.; 7th, Woodbine, fl.; 18th, Barley in ear; 
hay-making general, but damaged by floods. Shifnal—Apples, of which 
there was a great prospect, almost all fell off; no butterflies. Peas first 
gathered 11th, Strawberries 13th. Stroud.—List of flowers noticed and 
time of blossoming:—Ilst, Butterfly Orchis; 2nd, Prunella vulgaris, 
Dulcamara, Sedum acre, Aconitum Napellus, Meadow-sweet; 4th, Eye- 
bright, Common Ragwort; 8th, Viper’s Bugloss, Scabiosa columbaria, 
Galium uliginosum, Digitalis purpurea, Ranunculus Lingua ; 12th, Epilobium 
montanum, Alisma Plantago, Stachys sylvatica, Achillea millefoliwm, 
Medicago lupulina; 15th, Juncus uliginosus, Centaurea nigra, Malva 
sylvestris, Valeriana rubra; 17th, Great Mullein, Geranium pratense, 
Lonicera Periclymenum; 18th, Chlora perfoliata ; 20th, Campanula rotun- 
difolia ; 24th, Bee Orchis; 26th, Malva moschata, Reseda Luteola, Linaria 
vulgaris; 31st, Red Bartsia, Corn Cockle, Wild Basil, Red Pimpernel, 
Common St. John’s Wort. Nottingham, Highfield House Observatory.— 
8rd, Rhodendrons, Ghent Azaleas, Double Scarlet Thorn, Laburnum, 
Brown Iris, and Hemerocallis flavus still in bloom; 6th, Snowball Tree, 
Heracleum gigantewm, and Yellow Briar in fi.; 12th, Elder in fl., Straw- 
berries ripe; 20th, Deutzia scabra in fi.; 21st, Portugal Laurel in fl.; 
27th, Spirea erifolia in fi., also Deutzia scabra plena; 29th, Spirea 
palmata in fl.; 31st, Roses in full glory, some Rhododendrons yet in fi. 
Moseley, near Birmingham.—August 20th, a large pyramidal Pear Tree is 
this day in full bloom, as though it were Spring; Roses were more than a 
month late in blooming; they have continued in great beauty up 
to now. Pek 
Correspondence. 
ee 
A Lone Stezr.—On July 6th, 1875, I found five larve of the Puss 
Moth (Cerura vinula) feeding upon willow. These I placed in a breeding 
box, with their food stuck into damp sand, and after a time they spun 
their cocoons in the cornersand on the sides of the box, and four of them 
emerged all right in the following May, (1876.) The remaining one I 
fancied dead, but did not examine the cocoon, and not wanting the box 
