CHANGES OF THE WEATHER. 8Q5 
10 Sometimes, previous to rain, sheep and goats seem more desi- 
rous to graze, and quit their pastures with reluctance. 
11. Among other things, the activity of ants in carrying about their 
eggs, the voice of the solitary crow, and frequent immersion of many 
water-fowl, have been considered as indications of rain. 
12. The garrulity of crows, ravens, rooks, and other birds of this 
sort, is indeed well known; “Corvus aquat,” is a proverb cited by 
Erasmus. But we must distinguish between the voice of the raven 
before rain, perched solitarily on a tree, and uttering a harsh cry, frorp 
his deep and peculiarly modulated voice, when sailing round and 
round high in the air, before and during serene weather. The raven, 
as well as other birds, often soars at an elevation much beyond what 
we are apt to imagine. When at the top of Cader Idris, near Dol- 
gelly, I observed these birds flying considerably above the summit of 
that mountain on which I sat 
13. The hooting and screeching of owls often indicates a change 
of weather. They hoot in fact during variable w^eather ; when fair is 
about to be changed for wet, or wet for fair, a similar disturbance qf 
their feeling^?, from atmospherical causes, probably takes place, which 
makes them hoot. 
14. The misletoe thrush, turdus viscivorus, frequently sings parti- 
cularly loud and long before rain. 
15. Mariners at sea expect a storm when the stormy petrels, pro- 
celaria pelagicCf shelter themselves in numbers under the wake of the 
vessel. 
1(1. Pennant observes, that on the island of St. Kilda, the fulmar, 
procellaria glacialis^ is very useful in foreboding the direction of the 
wind. When these birds return to the land in numbers, there will be 
no west wind for a long time ; when, on the contrary, they return to 
the ocean, a zephyr is expected. 
17. Magpies before and during wind fly about in companies, and 
make a fluttering noise. 
18. When the sea-gulls come in numbers to shore, and make a 
noise about the coast ; or when, at sea, they alight on ships ; the 
sailors consider it a sure foreboding of a storm. Before storms, 
too, the porpoise, dolphin, and grampus, come to the shore in large 
bodies. 
19. When dolphins play about the surface of a calm sea, Pliny 
observes, wind may be expected from that quarter whence they have 
come. 
20. Chickweed has been said to be an excellent weather guide : 
v/hen the flower expands freely, no rain will fall for many hours; if 
it so continues open, no rain for a long time need be feared. In 
showery days the flower appears half concealed, and this state may 
be regarded as indicative of showery weather ; when it is entirely 
shut we may expect a rainy day. 
21. If the flowers of the Siberian sowthistle remain open all night, 
we may expect rain the next day. 
22. Before a shower, the trefoil contracts its leaves, as does the 
convolvulus and many other plants.. Lord Bacon observes, that the 
trefoil has its stalk more erect against rain. 
