24 WASTE-LAND WANDERINGS. 



fauna, just as the European names of the commoner 

 birds found there were applied to those American spe- 

 cies most closely resembling them ; and so, any rhyme 

 or brief saying referring to them would be applied to 

 the analogous bird found here. This is eminently rea- 

 sonable, for, if the given habit, voice, or other peculiarity 

 of a European bird did, or was supposed to, indicate 

 a given meteorological condition, the same rule should 

 hold good in America. As a matter of fact, however, I 

 can find no similarity between the English and Swedish 

 and the American weather-lore, except such as applies 

 to domestic animals ; nor do I find any common Eng- 

 lish sayings in use. 



That which I have heard, and have recorded from 

 time to time, appears to have originated where it now 

 is, or lately was, in use. To a great extent, I believe it 

 to be original with the descendants of the immigrants 

 that settled central New Jersey and the country gener- 

 ally about Philadelphia ; but a portion of it, very possi- 

 bly, was derived from the Indians. 



At present, a portion of this weather-lore is repeated 

 as nursery rhymes, and it is due to this that it has been 

 preserved to the present time ; and, so far as I have 

 been able to determine, not one of the rhymes or say- 

 ings has ever been published. That among the earliest 

 papers and almanacs of the country there may be found 

 some of them, or slightly different versions of the same, 

 is probable, but my searchings therefor, in the larger li- 

 braries, have not resulted in any such discoveries. 



The main interest, however, in connection with weath- 

 er-lore is to determine whether they do or do not cor- 



