RSI] CE 603°) 
NATURALIST’s MONTHLY REPORT. 
MAY. x " 
Leajfing month. 
Hail! bounteous. May, that dost inspire 
Mirth and youth and warm desire ; 
Woods and groves are of thy dressing, 
; Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing. =i - 
ON the ist of the month the wind was south-west; from the 2d to the 4th westerly; 
from the 5th to the 1ith seuth-west; on the 12th and 13th to the south-east; on the 
14th south and south-west; on the 15th and 16th soyth-east; on the 17th and 18th easterly ; 
from the 19th to the 23d easterly ; on the 23d and 24th south-west ; from the 25th to the 
£7 tir southerly; on the 28th and 29th west; on the 30th south; and on the Sist south-east, 
We had a heavy gale of wind, accompanied with shower:, on the 5th, and strong gales on 
the ¥d, 6th, 14th, 19th, 28th, and 29th. j 
The only thunder storin we had in the course of the month was in the morning of the 
12th, and it was of short duration. i ‘ 
We had rain on the 1st, 3d, Sth, 6th, Yth, 8th, Oth, 10th, tith, 15th, i6th, 24th; 
28th, and Sist. Theveather has not been so hot as it frequently is in the month of May. 
May 2d. Toads begin to croak in the evenings. é 
The swifts are now seen in considerable numbers, and fly screaming after each other in the 
#ame manner as they do in the middle of summer. 
May 4th. The nightingale is arrived. 
Sweet-scented vernal grass (anthoxanthum odoratum) is in flower. It is this grassy chiefly, 
that gives to hay its peculiar ecent. 
May 6th. The black-cap sings. 
* The cuckoo is arrived. Mushrooms are gathered. 
May 7th. Chafiers (scarabzus meloiontha) begin-to fly about in the evenings. It.is really 
wonderfu} to observe with what exactness of time the first leafling of the trees, and the 
emerging of these insects from the ground, take place. Whether the season be early or late, 
the chaffers invariably make their first appearance as soon as a sufficiency of food is proyided 
for them by the vernal foliage. APTI, 
May 8th. The seyen-spotted lady-bug (coccinella septempunctata) flics about. The bloom 
of the hawthorn begins to expand. 3 
Damson-trees are in bloom. 
Yellow wagtails (sotacilla fava) appear. ; : 
May 12th. This was a close, damp, and yet sultry, day. The ponds and manure heaps 
aloag the sides of the road were extremely offensive. 
The caterpillars of the barred tree, lackey-moth (ombyx neustrius of Haworth) begin to 
@merge from the ova which the parent insects deposited in the autumn round slender twigs 
of apple-trees. These caterpillars are in some seasons so numerous.as to devour a great part of 
the foliage. 
There has been of late so much rain in the country to the westward, that the rivers haye 
overflowed their banks. ; 
May 13th. The sowing’of barley, which was much retarded by the wet weather, is now" 
going on; and, if the weather continues fine for a few days longer, will be finished. ; 
May 15th. ., Bird’s-foot trefoil (ornithopus perpusillus), heart medick (medicago polymorpha), 
gommon vetch (wicia sativa), and common bitd’sefoot trefoil (lotus corniculatés), are in flower, 
The hawthorn also is now in full bloom. 
May 20th. The chaffers are not at all numerous; but, if we may judge by the devastations 
which have of late been committed by the chaffer-grub (or rook-worm as it is usually called) 
it seems prubable that in the next spring these insects will be unusually abundant. ; 
The froth-worm, or cuckoo-spit, appears on the blades of grass and other herbage. 
The leaves of the mulberry-tree are not yet fully expanded. Those of the walnut-tree 
have been much injured by the chafters. 
May 26th. Wall butterfly (papilio megera), red admiral (papilis atalanta), and fern chaffeg 
(scarabeeus horticola), appear. 
* May 27th. Young wood-pigeons are nearly fledged, 
Rye is in full ear; andthe bramble, and dog-rose, are in flower, 
May 30th. Green pease, and ripe strawberries gathered. 
May 3ist. The crops of grass are heavier in this neighbourhood than they have been for 
several years past. The rye also promises to afford an avundant crop; and the wheat and 
yarley are, on the whole, looking very well. 
The yellow iris, and fox-glove, are in flowsre ‘ 
Lampshire, y , ont 
MONTHULK 
