478 
VI.— NATURALIST'S CALENDAR, 
FOR APRIL. 
BOTANY. 
This is one of the most delightful months of the year, the alternation of heat and moisture, of 
bright and sunny, with shoM'ery days, give a strong stimulus to vegetation, and numerous 
plants begin to expand their flowers; most of our timber trees, and many fruit trees blossom 
this month, the fields are enlivened with those beautiful flowers, the Primrose, the Cowslij), and 
the Oxlip, and the woods and shady places with the V/ood Anemone. 
Among the plants in flower the following are the most remarkable : — Vernal Starwort, Calli- 
tricAe tierna, which gives a beautifully fresh green appearance to ditches and ponds in the 
spring; it is one of the few examples of the Linna^an Class, Monrindria; Pasque-tlower 
Anemdne Pulsatilla ; Wood Anemone, A. nemordsa ; Yellow Wood Anemone, /i. Tammcu- 
lo'ides ; Blue Mountain Anemone. J. appenina ; Wood Crowfoot, Raniinculi.s auricjmus ; 
Green HeUehore, Hcll^boTus I iridis ; Bulbous Fumitory, Cori/dalis buUjusa; Common Lady- 
cress, Carddmine prafrnsis — Hitter Lady-cress, C. amara, two beautiful pl.ints, the latter grows 
on the edges of rivers; Early Winter Cress, Barharea pres'cox ; Common V/all-cress, Arabis 
thalicina ; Hairy Violet, J^ioU kirta ; i\Iarsh Violet, r. pabistris ; Umbelliferous Jairged- 
C\\\cV.weeA, Holisteum umhellatum; Common Wood Sorrel, Oralis AcetosHla, a delicate and 
elegant little plant, which olfers one of the best illustrations of the ''sleep of plants," the 
leafets closing round the petiole at night, aud rising again in the morning; Water Blinks, 
Mdntiafontana; Moschatol, Adoxa Moschat llina ; Purple Saxifrage, SaxifTafia oppositifjlia; 
Rue-leaved Saxifrage, S. /rtf/.irfy/i/fs / BuWacei Priinus insitiiia ; S|)ring Ciuquefoil, Poten- 
tilla verna; Wild Pear-tree, Py>i/.s commiinii ; Gooseberry, litbes GrosiulcLrin ; Loug-stalked 
Colstfoot, Tussiliigo hybrida ; Butter-bur, T.Pctisilcs; Ash, Frdxintis ex'tsior ; Spring Gen- 
tian, Gentiana verna; Ivy-leaved Cyclamen, Cyclamen hcdsTifilixtm ; Primrose, PTimula 
vulgaris; Oxlip, P. cldtior ; Cowslip, P. v^ris ; Fingered Speedwell, I'erontca triphyllos ; 
Vernal Speedwell, l^. verna; Toothv/ort, Luthra;^a squamaria ; Yellow Bugle, Ajuga t'hamiE. 
pitys; Comrtion Birch, B'tula alba, and Weeping Birch, B. pndula; several species of 
Villow, (Sdlix;) the Beech, Fiigus sylvdticus; the Common Oak, and the Sessile-fruited Oak, 
Quercus Rdbur,3,nAtessilifiiira; Early purple Orchis, Orchis mdscula ; Spider Orchis, OpAry* 
«ran(/i?ra, found in dry, chalky, or gravelly pastures; Two-flowered Narcissus, N. b'ljiurus; 
Fritillary, Fritillciria Meleagris; Wild Tulip, TiUipa sylvestris; Yellow Betlilehera-Star, 
Gagea liitea; Common Bethlehem-Star, Orn.it/iSgalum umbel tat urn; Vernal Squill, Sc/lla 
Vffna; Early Sedge, Carex pris^cox ; Cotton Grass, Eriiphorum augusti/jlium aaipolystachion ; 
and Blue Moor-grass, Sesleria cwriUea. 
ZOOLOGY. 
INSECTS. — The following Butterflies may now be found: — the green.veined White, Punlia 
napi; the Early Turnip, P. i)P/r« ; the Turnip, P. nz/xs; and the Early Cabbage, P. Ckcri. 
clea; about gardens, the caterpillars feeding on various species of Brassica; the (Jrange-tip, 
P. carrfrtmin^s, on the various species of Lady-cress, (Cardamine) ; the Azure-Blue, Polyim- 
matus Argiolus; the Small Copper, Lycpnri Phlhas ; and the Wall Butterfly, Hippdrchia Me- 
gxra. The MarveUde-Jour Moth, Misrfia nprilina; the Augle.sliades IVIoth, Phlogjpkora 
meticuldsa, the larvae of which feed oo the Wall-flower) ; the Gamma Moth, Pliisia gamma; 
the Emperor Moth, Sati/rnia pavunia ; and the Twenty-plume Moth, Alucita hexaddctyla ; 
may now also be met with 
The Least Dragoo-Fly, Libellula virgo; makes its appearance about the end of the month. 
The Mole Cricket, Gryllotalpa vulouris ; may be heard about the middle of the month sing- 
ing his love-lorn ditty in a low dull jarring uninterrupted note, not unlike that oS the Night. 
jar, Caprimulgus europceus, (Nyctichelidon europae'us, Sennie,) but more inward.— KiRBY 
awdSpence. 
The larvae of the Water Beetles (Dy<ici</<p) leave the watfr and conceal themselves in the 
banks of ponds and ditches. 
The Garden Beetle Carff6«s hortensis; and the Catchweed Beetle, Tim&rchia tenebridjsa ; 
and numerous species of Coleopterous insects (Beetles) may now be met with. 
BIRDS. — This month is one of peculiar interest to the Ornithologist; Birds are now seen to 
the greatest advantage; those which stay permanently with us, are actively engaged in the 
great business of building or hatching, while others, which were migratory in the winter, be- 
gin to return to us as the weather grows warmer. To those who are fond of Nature, few plea- 
sures can be more delightful than a walk in the fields on a fine warm sunny morning this 
month; everything is full of litis and joy, — plants are expanding their blossoms, — insects are 
resorting to tnem to feed on their juices, — while the birds are flitting from spray to spray, and 
exulting in the return of spring. The arrival of the summer birds is also an object of interest 
to every one ; there are few who can view without pleasure the return of the Swallow and the 
Cuckoo, those certain harbingers of summer ; while those elegant little birds, the Warblers, 
(Sylvia,) enliven both day and night with their varied songs. 
The "Architecture of Birds," byj Professor Reuuic, an amusing little work, will at this 
time, be found ;articularly inteicsting. 
The Swallow. Ilirnido rust lea; the House Martin, H. 'irbica; and the Sand Martin, H. 
ripan'fl, arr.i e geiierallv in the second week, sometimes a little sooner or later, according to 
the season : particular winds also seem to have an effect in forwarding or retarding their ap- 
ptarance. The order of appearance of the different species does not seem to be regular, as 
sometimes one, and sometimes another of them arrives first. 
The Swift, Hit undo (ipus, (Cypselus murarius,*) sometimes arrives at the end of the month, 
though seldom earlier than the 28th. 
* The SjiKiiiimes refer to I'rofejsor Rennie's eJifion of Mor,ta,?u'5 Oinithologic;il f^ivtiunary. 
