l885-i886.] 469 



MONTHLY NOTES. 



January was remarkably changeable, though cold had on the whole a decided 

 predominance. Changes of frost and thaw, of snow and rain, were so rapid that 

 change itself remains the one certain characteristic by which to describe January. 

 The barometer on the 17th fell to 28*80 inches, but no special weather resulted 

 on that or the following days. There were frequent and heavy snowstorms, and 

 only one gale of high wind. 



February. — The cold weather with which January departed continued tiU 

 the 7th of this month, then became milder, and closed with renewed snowstorms 

 and biting east wind. 



March began with a memorable snowstorm, and for three days the local mail- 

 car did not deliver the mails. The snow was followed by frost, and bitterly cold 

 weather continued till the 9th, when a sudden change transported us at once from 

 the snows of winter to the warmth of spring. No finer or milder weather pro- 

 bably ever was seen here at this season than that of the following seven days ; 

 but on the 28th we were again plunged into the depths of winter, and the month 

 ended with snow showers and a gale of wind. 



April. — Easterly and northerly winds obtained the mastery, and from the 6th 

 to the 12th it was very cold. There was a period of spring-like warmth at the 

 close of the month, but April nearly all through was bleak and bare. Swallows 

 seen on the 10th, landrail heard on the 16th, and the cuckoo on the 23rd. All a 

 few days earlier than last year. Hawthorn bursting into leaf on the 11th, 

 chestnut on the 18th, and willow on the 29th. Willow four days, hawthorn three 

 days, and chestnut one day later than in the previous year. 



May. — A wet and cold May, the rainiest we have had for a long time, and 

 May is usually one of the driest months of the year. A very noticeable wave of 

 cold passed over on the 12th. Snow lay on the ground in considerable quantity, 

 and large numbers of swallows perished in the cold. Poor little wanderers, they 

 had an inhospitable reception this spring. It is usual to associate May with 

 growing warmth and brightness, but a temperature of 27 degrees gives quite 

 another aspect to a spring morning. 



June was far from being a warm summer month. It was almost two degrees 

 below the average warmth, with a cold period of two or three days between the 

 13th and loth. Rainfall and number of wet days less than the mean. Cuckoo 

 heard on the 27th. 



