NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
223 
ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR DECEMBER. 
Mercury will be visible about an hour before sunrise during the first week 
of the month. 
Venus may be brilliantly observed as an evening star in W.S.W. At the 
end of the year she sets two hours after the sun. Near moon on the 6th, and 
I degree south of Uranus on the I2lh. 
Mars sets at 10.4 1 p.m., and will continue to be rather conspicuous as an 
evening star. He may be seen 2 degrees north of Saturn, on the last day of 
the year. 
Jupiter rises on the 1st at 8.50 p.m., and on the 31st at 6.45 p.m., and will 
be seen during the whole night afterwards. Near moon on the 23rd. The 
planet is situated 15 degrees west of the bright star Regulus in Leo, and 
5 degrees east of the star cluster Praesepe in Cancer. 
Saturn is perceptible in the evenings, setting on the ist at 12.30 a.m., and 
on the jtst at 10.33 P Near moon on the iilh and 12th, and very near Mars 
on the 31st. 
Shooting Stars will be numerous on the nights of the loth to the I 3 lfi- 
Xeptune will be hidden by the moon on December 21, 5.20 to 5.29 a.m., but 
the event can only be observed through a good telescope, as the moon will be 
nearly full. • F- D- 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
575. Prehistoric Grave in a Churchyard. — While digging a grave 
in the churchyard of Llanbedr, Vale of Conway, the se.xton struck a flat slab of 
stone, 6 feet below the surface, under which he noticed a skeleton in a crouching 
position, surrounded by boars’ tusks. Unfortunately, not realising the significance 
of his find, he covered it up again without showing it to anyone who would have 
been able to make an intelligent investigation. I have been able to secure a few 
of the tusks and to ascertain that the body seemed to be in a kneeling posture, 
but cannot discover whether there were any pieces of pottery. The site of the 
grave is a distinct mound which may well have been an old tumulus. 
Llanbedr, Angela Brazil. 
Vale of Conway. 
576. Birds in Normandy. — Having recently spent a short holiday in 
Normandy, I am tempted to add a few notes to Mr. Johnson’s very interesting 
article in the September number. I noticed fewer species than would have been 
the case in England, but some birds appeared to be much more common 
than they are in this country. As might be expected in a country where there is 
very little game pre.servation, rapacious birds were more abundant, though hawks 
were not in evidence. However, I met with one pair of buzzards, and kestrels 
were plentiful in the cliffs bordering the Seine. Red-backed shrikes were fre- 
quently to be seen perched upon the telegraph wires, while magpies, of course, 
were never long out of sight. I noticed but very few rooks, their place being 
occupied by carrion crows. Green woodpeckers were plentiful, and more easily 
observed than is the case in England. On several occasions I noticed them 
running up the bark of the trees which border the main roads. Jays were seen 
occasionally, lapwings once, and partridges not at all. I also noticed the extreme 
paucity of the thrush family, referred to by Mr. Johnson. 
Of birds which would not have been seen in England I can only record three 
hoopoes upon the same afternoon, although the district must remain a profound 
secret. 
With regard to plants, my chief impression was the extraordinary profusion 
of certain species in certain places. Near St. Martin de Boscherville, the fields 
were blazing with poppies or blue with the corn bluebottle, while the steep 
hillsides were carpeted with the Viper’s bugloss in full flower. The musk mallow 
was far more plentiful than it is in England, and I gathered some curious orchids 
of several species, of the identity of which I am still in doubt. The commonest 
