NOVEMBER 125 



iiig- matter. She records but little snow, and many 

 pleasant walks throughout the month, a visit from 

 golden-crested kinglets, feeding cattle, fall plough- 

 ing, green wheat fields, and the fading flowers of 

 the year — asters, everlasting and wych-hazel. 

 Mosses are also in flower. November, Miss Cooper 

 says, ^4s considered one of the best months for 

 fishing in our lakes." 



The British November, at least in past centuries, 

 seems a month of rain and frost and chilly winds, 

 but of infrequent snowfall, if one may judge by 

 certain famous literary reports. In The Shep- 

 herd's Calendar, Spenser gives very little direct 

 description in November. Near the beginning of 

 the poem, Colin speaks of ^'tliilke sollein season," 

 and the last line of the poem is Thenot's 



Now gynnes to mizzle, hye we homeward fast. 

 Evelyn in his Diary gives considerable attention 

 to weather data betw^een 1634 and 1706, having 

 both the personal interest of an extensive garden- 

 er, and the scientific interest befitting so prominent 

 a member of the Royal Society. The following 

 passages give the reader fairly definite conception 

 of November weather for a period of twenty 

 years : 



Nov. 2, 1684. ^'A sudden change from temper- 

 ate warm weather to an excessive cold rain, frost, 

 snow and storm such as seldom been known. This 



