THE YOUNG NATUJIALTST. 



221 



April Qth. — Found a robin's nest with 

 young birds. 



April loth. — Bluebells {Ilyaclnthus nou- 

 scrijJlus), lesser stitchwort (StcUuria gra- 

 vduis), and dwarf red rattle { Fed ic a lav is 

 sylvatica) in flower. 



April 1 2th. — Tuberous bitter vetch ( Oro- 

 hts t^ihcrosus) and wild cherry {Frudus 

 ariuin) in flower. Found a linnet's nest 

 without eggs, and a chaffinches also without 

 eggs, and a magpie's with seven eggs. 



April 13th. — Found a jackdaw's nest 

 without eggs and a dipper's with two eggs. 



April 14th — Wood crowfoot {Haiiuncidus 

 aurlcamns) in flower. Found a jay's nest 

 and a cole-tit's, both without eggs. 



April 15th.— Upright hedge parsley {Tori- 

 lis anthriscus) in flower. 



April 17th. — Early purple orchis {Orchis 

 mascula) in flower. 



April i8th.— Germander speedwell ( Vero- 

 nica. chaDucdiijs) in flower. Found a marsh 

 tit's nest. 



April 19th. — Herb Robert [Geranium ro- 

 bertiannm) in flower. 



April 20th. — Butter-bur {Petasites vul- 

 garis), hairy cardamine [Cardamiiio hirsuta), 

 and chervil {Ch(croi)hijllum anthriscns) in 

 flower. Oak in leaf. Found a blue-tit's 

 nest without eggs, a long-tailed tit's with 

 twelve eggs, and a missel thrush's with four 

 eggs. Saw the first martin. 



April 2ist. — Lady's mantle (Alchemilla 

 vulgaris) and ribwort plantain [Flantugo 

 hinccolata) in flower. Bracken (/ tcris aqui- 

 lina) in leaf. Saw a kestrel's nest and a 

 nuthatch's. Saw a grasshopper warbler. 



April 22nd. — Sycamore [Fscudu j^lntaaus) 

 in flower. Found a great tit's nest with 



c- eggs. 



April 24th. — First Cuckoo heard. 



April 25th. — Found a moor hen's nest 

 with seven eggs and a starling's nest with 

 the bird sitting. 



April 2Gth.— Beech [Fagus sijlvaticu) in 

 leaf. 



April 28th. — Lime-tree (Tilia Eurojxca) 

 in leaf. — N. Pkescott Decie, Bocieton 

 Court, Tcnbury, Worcestershire. 



A RAMBLE NEAR DROIT- 

 WICH. 



By Geo. W. VVheeldon. 

 On Friday, the 28th April, having occasion 

 to go to Ombersly, a small country village 

 near Droitwich, I took the 10.5 train for the 

 latter place; arrived there at 11. 15, and 

 after enquiring my way to Ombersley, 

 started off for a four mile walk. I had not 

 left the town many minutes before the 

 banks began to look quite lively with the 

 flowers of the chervil or cow parsley [An- 

 thriscus sylvestris), the ground ivy [Glechoma 

 hcdcracea), and the garlic mustard {AUiarin 

 officinalis). A little further on the yellow 

 weasel snout {GaleohdoUn liitei(in), the white 

 and red dead nettles [Lamiuvi album and 

 ljurjjurcum), and the chickweed and stich- 

 wort [Stellaria vudici and holostea), began 

 to appear. A mile or so brought me to a 

 small coppice, where I saw the cuckoo pint 

 [arum maculatun) in flower as I thought, so 

 not seeing the notice, " Trespassers will be 

 prosecuted," I got over to see and found 

 I about a dozen in flower, together with the 

 blue bell [Hyacinthus mnscri^tus), the 

 lesser celandine or pilewort [Ranunculus 

 Jicaria), the wood anemone [anemone memo- 

 and the lovely wood sorrell [O.calis 

 acctosclla), the first in profusion, but the 

 three latter were nearly over. By the side 

 of an old wall, over which the black berries 

 of the ivy [Ucdcra helix), were hanging in 

 profusion, I noticed what I thought to be 

 a large catterpillar on one of the common 

 stinging nettles, but on going nearer, I 

 found it was one of the fungi commonly 

 known as clust(.r cups. It was in the 

 shape of a crescent, a light yellow colour 

 with two dark brown stripes along the back 

 and was about two inches long. Opposite 

 here was a small wood, where the birds 



