2s 
MIXED DAYS OF MAY 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 chiffchaff 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 I 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 gth, 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 
