of a clear blue sky, and an enlivening sun. Unpromising as this revolution in our climate may appear to our limited views, we must still console ourselves with reflecting that we can never be sufficiently grateful for the thousand blessings that we still enjoy, and be contented to commit the care of the Seasons to HIM, who knows best how to rule them in his consummate wisdom. Think of the poor Greenlander's dismal caves, When thro' their long long night they buried lie; In Britain, blest with peace and competence, Blessing kind Nature and kind Nature's God! N. BLOOMFIELD. The latest species of the summer birds of passage arrive about the beginning of this month. The goatsucker, or fern-owl (caprimulgus Europaus), makes its appearance only in the dusk of the evening, to search for prey, uttering a dull jarring noise. The spotted fly-catcher (muscicapa grisola), the most mute and familiar of all our summer birds, builds in a vine or sweet-briar, against the wall of a house, or on the end of a beam, and sometimes close to the post of a door. The sedge-bird (motacilla salicaria) is found in places where reeds and sedges grow, and builds its nest there, which is made of dried grass, tender fibres of plants, and lined with hair. It sings incessantly night and day, during the breeding time, and imitates, by turns, the notes of the sparrow, the skylark, and other birds, from which it is called the English mock-bird. Innumerous songsters, in the freshening shade The insect tribes continue to add to their numbers; among these may be named several kinds of moths and butterflies (papilio atalanta, cardamines, ægeria, &c.) Other insects now observed, are field crickets (gryllus campestris), the chaffer or may-bug (scarabæus melolontha), and the forest-fly (hippobosca equina), which so much annoys horses and cattle. The female wasp (vespa vulgaris) appears at the latter end of the month. The insect youth are on the wing, And float amid the liquid noon: GRAY About this time, bees send forth their early swarms, Nothing can afford greater amusement than to watch the members of this industrious community in their daily journies from flower to flower.-See T. T. for 1816, p. 149; and for a list of trees, plants, and flowers, from which the bees extract their honey and wax, we refer to our last volume, p. 149. Hark! round the hive the busy murmur rings, Glean the new wax, and load their thighs with gold. About the commencement of the month, the flowers of the lily of the valley (convallaria maialis) and the flowers of the chesnut tree (fagus castanea) begin to open; the tulip tree (liriodendron tulipfera) has its leaves quite out, and the flowers of the oak (quercus robur), the Scotch fir (pinus sylvestris), the honeysuckle, and the beech, are in full bloom. Towards the middle, the flowers of the white thorn are quite out, and the mulberry tree (morus nigra) puts forth its leaves; the walnut (juglans regia) has its flowers in full bloom; the flowers of the garden rose also begin to open'. The lilac (syringa vulgaris), the barberry (berberis vulgaris), and the maple (acer campestre), are now in flower. At the latter end of the month, rye (secale hybernum) is in ear; the mountain ash (sorbus aucuparia), laburnum (cytisus laburnum), the guelder rose (viburnum opulus), clover (trifolium pratense), columbines (aquilegia vulgaris), the alder (rhamnus frangula), the wild chervil (chorophyllium temulum), and the wayfaring tree, or guelder-rose, have their flowers full blown. The germander (veronica chamadrys) is seen in hedges, and various species of meadow grass are now in flower. Heart's-ease (viola tricolor) shows its interesting little flower in corn fields2. The butter-cup (ranunculus bulbosus) spreads over the meadows; the cole-seed (brassica napus) in cornfields, bryony (brionia dioica), and the arum, or cuckoo-pint, in hedges, now show their flowers. The female glow-worm (lampyris noctiluca) is seen on dry banks, about woods, pastures, and hedge 1 QUEEN of fragrance, lovely Rose, And fades like thee, thou lovely Rose. C. SMITH. For some pleasing poetical illustrations of this flower, see bur last volume, p. 152. ways, exhibiting, as soon as the dusk of the evening commences, the most vivid and beautiful phosphoric splendour, in form of a round spot of considerable size. The marine plants which flower this month, and which are chiefly found on sea-shores and in the crevices of rocks, are, buck's horn (plantago coronopus), which flowers the whole summer; burnet saxifrage (pimpinella dioica), sea arrow-grass (triglochin. maritimum) on muddy shores; the clammy lychnis (lychnis viscaria); the cerastium tetrandrum; scurvygrass (cochlearia), sea-kale (crambe maritima) on sandy shores; the sea-cabbage (brassica oleracea), the sea stork's bill (erodium maritimum), the slender bird's foot trefoil (lotus diffusus), the mountain fleawort (cineraria integrifolia) on chalky cliffs; and the sedge (carex arenaria) on sea-shores. The leafing of trees, which is, usually, completed in May, takes place in the following order: (1) The willow, poplar, alder, and other aquatics; (2) The lime, sycamore, and horse-chesnut; (3) The oak, beech, ash, walnut, and mulberry; but the whole of the third number are not in full leaf till next month. Mr. Stillingfleet, in his Tracts (p. 142), gives the following as the order of the leafing of trees and shrubs, as observed by him in Norfolk: January 15, honeysuckle. March 11, gooseberry, currant, elder. April 1, birch, weeping-willow; 3, raspberry, bramble; 4, briar; 6, plum, apricot, peach; 7, filberd, sallow, alder; 9, sycamore; 10, elm, quince; 11, marsh elder; 12, wych elm; 13, quicken tree, hornbeam; 14, apple tree; 16, abele, chesnut; 17, willow; 18, oak, lime; 19, maple; 21, walnut, plane, black poplar, beech, acacia robinia; 22, ash, carolina poplar. Some lines on planting trees may be seen in our last volume, p. 155. If the weather be warm, so that the sap will rise, oaks are felled and stripped of their bark for the tanner. This is the season in which cheese is made; the Counties most celebrated for this article are Cheshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire. The corn is benefited by a cold and windy May, as it is too apt to run into stalk, if the progress of vegetation be much accelerated by warm weather at this season. In late years, some sowing remains to be done; and in forward ones, the weeds should be well kept under. We cannot refuse a place in our natural history of the pleasant month of May, to the following stanzas, written by the amiable author of the Farmer's Boy,' in his twentieth year: Hail, MAY! lovely MAY! how replenished my pails! The young Dawn o'erspreads the broad east, streaked with gold! My glad heart beats time to the laugh of the vales, And COLIN's voice rings through the wood from the fold. The wood to the mountain submissively bends, Whose blue misty summit first glows with the sun! See! thence a gay train by the wild rill descends To join the mixed sports-Hark! the tumult's begun. Swift down the mad dance, while blest Health prompts to move, To this pretty song we subjoin the Melodies of Morning and Evening,' from two admired poets, as forming a beautiful illustration of the scenery of May. MELODIES of the MORNING. But who the melodies of morn can tell? The wild brook babbling down the mountain side; The lowing herd; the sheepfold's simple bell; The pipe of early shepherd dim descried In the lone valley; echoing far and wide M |
