MIXED DA YS OF MA Y AND DECEMBER. 



In a sheltered spot the cuckoo was first heard on 

 April 29, but only for one day ; then, as the wind 

 took up its accustomed northerly drift again, he was 

 silent. The first chimney swallows (four) appeared on 

 April 25, and were quickly followed by a number. They 

 might be said to be about three weeks behind time, and 

 the cuckoo a fortnight. The chirTchafif uttered his clear 

 yet rather sad notes on April 26. The same morning at 

 five o'clock there had been a slight snow shower, but it 

 was a sunny day. On May 1 a stitchwort was in flower, 

 a plant that marks the period distinctly. A swift ap- 

 peared on May 2 ; I should not consider this late. A 

 whitethroat was catching insects in the garden on May 6. 

 The cuckoo sang again on May 8 ; the same day a Red 

 Admiral butterfly was seen, and the turtle-dove heard 

 cooing. Next day, the 9th, the eave swallow appeared, 

 and also the bank martin. With the cooing of the turtle- 

 dove the spring migrants are generally complete ; a warm 

 summer bird, he is usually the last, and if the others had 

 not been seen they are probably in the country some- 

 where. The chimney swallows had been absent five 

 months all but five days (last seen November 30), so that 

 reckoning the first and the last, they may be said to stay 

 in England seven months— much longer than one would 

 think without taking the dates. Up till April 20 the 

 hedges seemed as bare as they were in January, a most 



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