MR. T. SOUTHWELL OX MR. MARSIIAM’s “INDICATIONS OF SPRING.” 253 
earlier than tho mean, but all the other forest trees were late. 
A few unimportant occurrences such as Frogs croaking, Kooks 
commencing to build, and the Yellow I Juttcrlly appearing, all of 
which might happen as the result of the first few warm sunny 
days, were all slightly earlier than usual ; but, strange to say, the 
song of the Nightingale was heard on the 14th of April, eleven 
days earlier than the mean ; but the Swallow showed more dis- 
cretion, and did not put in an appearance till the 2nd of May, the 
latest date in the whole series of 1 18 records. 
1892. — The Spring of this year was cold and ungeniaL The 
last week in January and first half of February, although mild, 
were foggy and unpleasant ; the rest of the month and the whole 
of March were cold and winterly. April opened fine and warm, 
but on the loth there was a very heavy fall of snow, and till the 
end of the month the weather was very cold, although interspersed 
with occasional Spring days, and this continued till the 7th of 
May, when seasonable weather set in. Wo are not surprised, 
therefore, that tho Thrush withheld its song till the 20th of 
March, the latest date recorded for its commencement out of 
105 observations, and that of 16 recorded phenomena 13 were 
later than normal, and only two occurred on earlier dates than the 
recorded mean : these were young Kooks which were hatched on 
tho 31st of March, and the Swallow which appeared on the 
12th of April during a warm spell which ended in a severe snow 
storm on tho 15th, and proved very disastrous to these useful 
birds. The Oak leafed on April 24th, the mean of 1 14 observations. 
1898 was about an average year; out of 27 observations 13 were 
earlier and 14 later than the mean; these latter pertain generally 
to those which occur in tho months of April and May, and the 
most remarkable is the late arrival of the Swallow, which, in 1881, 
and again in this year, is not registered till May 2nd, the latest 
arrivals in 118 observations; but the Cuckoo was heard on the 
23rd of April, its usual time. Those phenomena in April which 
were slightly earlier than usual, as the leafing of the forest trees, 
were such as would not be greatly intluenced by rapid changes of 
weather, and were therefore not seriously deterred by the rough 
spell in the end of March, but which was soon succeeded by bright 
weather and seasonable showers, lasting till the middle of April. 
May was a cold and ungenial month. 
