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♦ KNOAATLEDGE ♦ 



[May 1, 1886. 



The following m^y or may not be a local saying :— 



When flying-squirrels run on ground, 

 The clouds '11 pass you by, be bound. 



"What this may mean has been a question with me for a long 

 time. It i.s a common remark, either in this or a simpler form, 

 and many, who have little faith in pigs or dogs as weather- 

 prophets, bnild largely upon the habits of the flying-squirrel. 

 The saying itself implies that a drought exists at the time 

 that these animals frequent the ground rather than the 

 trees, coming, of course, thereto in order to find food. If 

 the saying bo true, the summer food of the flying-squirrel 

 must be more plentiful on the ground than in the tops of 

 the tallest trees. What that food is exactly I am not aware, 

 nor have I had any oppoi-tunity to verify the statement that 

 flying-squirrels frequent the ground dui'ing " dry spells." 

 Those that I have seen near home are so strictly crepuscular 

 that only the initial movements of their nocturnal journeys 

 are readily traced ; but, whenever I have seen them sally 

 from their retreats, it was to take a tree-top route for 

 several rods and then to be lost to sight. Take the year 

 through, it is probable that they seldom come to the ground 

 to forage. When they do so, is it an evidence of continued 

 dry weather 1 1 can neither contradict nor afiirm ; but are 

 not the probabilities against such being the case ? 



Speaking of the opossum, it is said that, if found in 

 autumn in hollow trees, the winter will be milder than if 

 occupying a burrow in the ground. 



This seems to be very reasonable, and would pass ad- 

 mirably as a weather-sign but for one unfortunate circum- 

 stance. While you may find one or more in a tree, your 

 neighbour may find as many in the ground. I have known 

 this to be the case more than once. Under these circum- 

 stances, meet your neighbour at the line-fence and compare 

 notes. What about the winter ? 



From their greater abundance and never-failing presence, 

 it might be thought that the weather-lore of birds would be 

 much more elaborate than that referring to other classes of 

 animals ; but my observations do not confirm this. There 

 are simply a greater number of sayings current, and fully 

 one half are too trivial to repeat. It would seem as if a 

 weather-lore possibly of Indian origin and referring to birds 

 then abundant, but now wholly wanting, was current more 

 than a ceutury ago. These sayings were subsequently 

 applied to other species, nearly or more remotely allied, and 

 whatever meaning they may originally have had has been 

 lost ; bilt the apparent absurdity of such '• proverbs," as now 

 nsed, seems never to have occurred to those who repeat them. 



That the clucking of chickens, cackling of geese, and the 

 "potracking" of Guinea-hens have not given rise to an 

 elaboi'ate series of weather-proverbs is, I think, surprising. 

 The only fomiliar reference to the chicken heard about home 

 is that the rooster, crowing at night, says, " Christmas — 

 coming— on'" It does appear that the midnight crowing 

 of cocks is more frequently heard in December than in June ; 

 but, so far as the meaning is concerned, it tmfortunately 

 happens that the nocturnal crowing is as often heard in 

 January as in December. Calling attention to this, I was 

 once gravely assured that the cocks crew differently then, 

 and said, " Christmas — come — and — gone ! " I accepted the 

 explanation. This is not a weather matter, but is not 

 irrelevant, as it shows how very common it once was to 

 couple any unusual occurrence with something sooner or 

 later to happen, and therefore, in the matter of weather 

 especially, to claim it as prophetic of that event. 



Of the examples of weather-lore of birds, the following 

 are not itncommonly heard in Central New Jersey. Of the 

 cardinal-grossbeak, or winter redbird, it is said : 



The redbird lies, without regret : 

 However dry, it whistles " wet 1 " 



That is, the bird is credited with knowing it will not rain, 

 and teases the farmer by singing " wet " in his ears all day. 

 Others put another meaning on the redbird's note, and claim 

 it to be a sure sign of rain. This is more like the ordinary 

 sayings commonly heard, ami let ns give it a moment's con- 

 sideration. At present, the time of year when the cardinal- 

 birds sing least is during the hot summer months. Xot 

 that tliey are aKsolutely mvite for even a few days at a time, 

 btit relatively so as compared with their joyous strains 

 through autumn and winter ; and again, early in summer, 

 when they are nesting, these birds, like robins, are more 

 apt to sing directly after a shower than at any other time. 



So much for the gay cardinal as a weather-prophet. The 

 rare summer redbird — a tanager — which also utters a 

 whistling note, well described by the syllable " wet," shortly 

 and sharply expressed, is likewise said to prophesy rain. 

 The probabilities are that the note of the redbird, cardinal 

 and summer, suggesting the word " wet," has given rise to 

 the belief that their utterance was a sign of a coming 

 shower or storm. It is often by such illogical methods that 

 these sayings have become established. After a few rep?- 

 titions they become fixed in the mind and their origin 

 forgotten ; they are invested with an import;tnce not their 

 due, and not attributed to them by their originators. 

 Ultimately they are incorporated in the weather-lore of the 

 country. 



Of the innumerable swallows, it is said, with as little show 

 of reason : 



No rain e'er poured upon the earth. 



That damped the twittering swallow's mirth. 



No? Well, of late, the whole host takes refuge from 

 storm.s — the barn-swallows in the hay-mow, the cliff- 

 swallows under the eaves, the sand-martins in their 

 burrows, and the chimney-swifts in their sooty homes in 

 the chimney.s. Why this change of habit? For a wonder- 

 ful change must have taken place if the couplet quoted was 

 ever true. I do admit that swallows and swifts appear 

 to be noisier before and during a shower ; but does not this 

 arise from the fact that at such a time they collect in great 

 numbers near their nests to take refuge if the storm should 

 increase in violence? And again, the silence of other birds 

 makes the twittering swallow a more prominent bird than 

 under other circumstances ; but nothing of this warrants the 

 extravagant assertion that no storm ever put a quietus upon 

 them. 



The larger hawks, too, are supposed to give warning of 

 a coming shower when they utter their peculiar cat-like 

 scream. Among our old people the following may some- 

 times be heard repeated : 



The hen-hawk's scream, at hot, high noon, 

 Foretells a coming shower soon. 



This couplet is of some interest, as, at present, it is not 

 applicable to our larger hawks and buzzards. Indeed, the 

 only one of them that is prone to cry out while circling 

 overhead is the red-tailed buzzard or hen-hawk, and this 

 bird is very seldom seen in midsummer, and now certainly is 

 only heard in autumn, winter, or early spring. The saying 

 implies that formerly these birds were abundant at all 

 times of the year, and during the summer would cry out 

 in their peculiar ftishion. The settlement of the country 

 and general deforesting of such a large portion of it have 

 driven these hawks to more retired parts during the nest- 

 ing season, and there, throughout summer, their cry may 

 indicate that it will soon rain ; but, if so, why does not 

 the same cry in autumn have some reference to the 

 weather ? 



It is .scarcely necessary to continue the list. Other birds 

 than those mentioned — reptiles, batrachians, and fishes — 



