DECEMBER 



' Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste, 

 An' weary winter comin' fast, 

 An' cosie here, beneath the blast, 



Thou thought to dwell, 

 Till crash ! the cruel coulter past 

 Out thro' thy cell.' 



BURNS, To a Mouse. 



THE COUNTRY CALENDAR 



NATURE is less active in December than at any date in the year. 

 It is a month of rest ; and the only young leaf among wild plants, 

 always excepting the wild grasses and winter weeds, is the honey- 

 suckle's, which is proof against frost and foul weather. Though in 

 statistics the drier half of the year begins, winter is announced 

 clearly. We all feel the shortness of the days. Indoor merriment is 

 at its zenith ; and we decorate with the berries that are becoming the 

 only food of the birds. The thrushes are sowing the mistletoe 

 seeds, wiped from their beak on the bark, as well as hips and haws 

 and holly stones under the bushes. 



One of the earliest authorities on seasonal weather selected 

 December 3rd to Qth as one of the regular warm spells, strangely 

 interpolated into our English winter. The Marshams recorded two 

 'indications of spring' in December. On the I5th snowdrops, and 

 on the 26th the turnip flowered. But there are many more indica- 

 tions. Primroses almost always flower freely. Hints of a new year 

 come in the slow lengthening of the days and in the first restoration 

 of the hunter's truce. Lopk for intense cold if the barometer falls 

 with a northerly or westerly wind. 



December loth. Grouse and black game shooting ends. 



December 22nd : The Winter Solstice. The sun enters Capricorn. 



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