Calendar of Natural Phenomena. 4735 



but for a day or two at a time : vegetation, however, during the whole 

 month, has made but very slender advances ; on the whole, it is now at 

 least one month behind the usual period in an average year; in many 

 instances it has, to all appearance, been stationary for weeks together : 

 thus, the common snowdrop, which, during the whole of February and 

 the greater part of March presented the same aspect, is still in full 

 bloom, although the first spring bird of passage has made its appear- 

 ance ; the buds of the box tree (Buxas semper virens) I have watched 

 for full six weeks, and during that time they have undergone no per- 

 ceptible change, nor are they apparently any nearer opening now than 

 they were in the middle of February ; the blushing buds of the Japan 

 quince (Cydonia japonica) were apparently ready to burst at the begin- 

 ning of the month, but they have not yet opened. On the other hand, 

 those early builders, the rooks, commenced operations on the 4th instant, 

 only four days later than last year, and the chiffchaff appeared with his 

 sprightly note by the 1st of April, rather before the average time, and 

 in like manner with other birds. Those insects also that I have ob- 

 served have not made their appearance much after the usual time. 



It is easier to note the arrival of birds than their departure ; and I, 

 who make up my list at the end of each month, may be led, for a time, 

 into the assumption that a bird has taken its departure, whereas it 

 may yet reappear after an interval. Thus, in my calendar for February, 

 I wrote, " 26. Wild duck last seen," supposing from the apparently 

 settled state of the weather that we should see them no more ; but 

 during the past month they have frequently appeared, and even up to 

 the last hour of the month : I flushed a brace towards midnight on the 

 31st, as I was walking along the banks of the river by moonlight; in- 

 deed, I am assured that this species occasionally remains with us, and 

 breeds in the deep ditches near the river; but not only have the 

 common species been seen from time to time, but on the 6th we were 

 visited by a species hitherto, this season, new to us : a party of nine 

 tufted ducks (Fuligula cristata), the usual companions of those species 

 previously enumerated, spent the morning upon the river, and one 

 specimen was procured. Even as late as the 21st an oceanic duck of 

 this genus (Fuligula) was seen, but that I think will be the last. I 

 should remark that, in my list of Anatidae last month, I omitted the 

 cravat goose (Anser canadensis), which, it will be remembered, was 

 killed here on the 20th January, making altogether four genera and 

 ten species which have come under my immediate notice this winter. 

 A little before Easter, some years since, the man who still occupies the 

 lock-house shot a pair of birds which puzzled him : although very 



