celerated by the slightest current, and enormously increased by a brisk or high wind. In calm weather, if there is no interval between the dew point and the temperature of the air, there is no evaporation; if the latter rises evaporation commences, but if it falls precipitation begins. If when the dew point and the temperature of the air are the same the wind blows strong, there is then some degree of evaporation, and the air appears to carry with it particles of nascent vapour, something in the same way that it blows up the dust in our roads, the particles of vapour remaining visible, and rendering the air misty or, as it is termed, thick and hazy. TABLE V. The number of days on which Rain or Snow fell during each Season in 1834, 1835, and 1836, In taking notice of rain and rainy days with reference to season and climate, the length of time during which it is falling is quite as worthy of regard as the quantity. As much rain may fall during a heavy shower in an hour or two as in a whole day's mizzling rain; and yet the former may be a fine, sunny, and beautiful day; the latter, a wet and miserable one. The temperature of rain as it descends is, doubtless, very various; it is generally of the same temperature as the dew point. Whatever the temperature of rain may be when it descends for an hour or two, the air and constituent temperature of the vapour will be equalized. The following remarks, taken from the meteorological journal to which we are indebted for the preceding tables and observations, may not be unacceptable to our readers. Jan. 23rd, 1824. Notwithstanding the extreme mildness of this winter, and the great quantities of rain which have fallen during the last thirty days, it has not been by any means sickly-all accounts seem agreed in this particular― though coughs, colds, and rheumatic attacks of a minor character, were observed in the early part of the autumn of 1833. Whether the salubrity of the season is at all attributable to the very boisterous winds of November and December, we cannot venture to determine. March, 1834. A remarkably dry month, with cold N. E. winds. Epidemic catarrh very prevalent. The spring and early period of the summer of 1834 very dry. Rain fell on the 4th of June very seasonably for all kinds of vegetation: the rest of the month was showery.— the early part of July was hot, with genial showers; towards the middle of the month, heavy continued rain and floods. August was generally wet, with a marked and continued decline of temperature towards the end. September was remarkably fine, October seasonable, and November mild and dry. 1835. On the 16th and 17th of April, after mild seasonable weather, the thermometer fell, at night, to 28°, or four degrees below freezing. Snow fell in London, and ice was seen in many places half an inch thick. This thermometric depression seems to have been very general, not only in this country, but in France, and other places. At Bourdeaux, the mercury fell, during the night of the 16th, to 25.5, having been for many days previously at 72" or 75." An account of the sudden increase and subsequent rapid decrease of temperature which occurred in the month of June, 1835, will be found in our 3rd volume, p. 175. : July and August, 1835, were hot and dry. Rain fell in quantity for the first time for some weeks on the 24th of the latter month this was followed by a considerable decline of temperature. The last few days of August and the first week in September were again hot and fine. On the 8th of the latter month heavy rain fell; the remainder of the month was wet, and the temperature rather low. October was cold, cloudy, and, for the most part, wet, with some heavy rain towards the latter end of the month. The early part of November was cold, with heavy rain; the middle mild, with showers, and fresh S. W. breezes. During the last two days of the month the rain was incessant. The first few days in December were mild. Frost set in severely on the night of the 19th, with snow, which continued, with fog and a beautiful hoar-frost, till the 28th. January and February, 1836, were characterised by great alternations of temperature, with much snow and rain. For several interesting remarks upon the spring of 1836, we must refer to our 3rd volume, p. 348. W. A. ON THE RARITY OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN DERBY. SHIRE, ABUNDANT IN OTHER PARTS OF BRITAIN. BY NEVILLE WOOD, ESQ. Few features are more remarkable in the ornithology of the flat portions of this district, than the scarcity or the non-appearance of several birds which abound in almost every other part of the kingdom. As the ornithologist cannot fail being interested in the circumstance, I propose, in this paper, to give an account of such species, and to attempt to assign some reason for so extraordinary an occurrence. The Corn Bunting (Emberiza miliaria), according to every British author who has written on the subject, is common in every part of the kingdom, and as abundant in the Orkneys as elsewhere. Here, however, in the plain portion of Derbyshire, the species is rarely met with. I have seen it only in two or three instances in these parts; and every one with whom I have conversed on the subject appears perfectly ignorant of the existence of the " Common Bunting." Near Tutbury, on the borders of Staffordshire, three miles from the spot where I formerly resided, it is seldom met with, and the nest, when found in that neighbourhood, is considered a rarity. But about a mile beyond Tutbury, and indeed in almost every part of Staffordshire which I have explored, it is as common as I have found it to be in other districts both to the north and south of this county. During the number of years which I have passed in Derbyshire, the species under consideration has always appeared to me in the light of a rare bird, and were it not for its abundance in the adjoining counties, my knowledge of its habits would be very deficient. Its manners, or at least its general economy, are so familiar to almost every one, that they need not be detailed in this communication, especially as I have elsewhere enlarged upon them at some length.* The south west portion of Derbyshire is extremely fertile and well cultivated, and the corn fields, which everywhere abound, present as inviting an aspect as those of any other county; and yet the Corn Bunting never makes its appearance, although it usually * In the British Song Birds. 32 ON THE RARITY OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN DERBYSHIRE. abounds in the best cultivated districts. I am, therefore, wholly unable to explain the cause of the non-appearance of the Corn Bunting in these parts; and amongst the numbers of scientific individuals to whom I have communicated the fact, I never found one who could at all elucidate the problem. Corn Bunting is by no means a faultless designation, as its congener, the Yellow Bunting, and others, are fully as partial to corn as itself; still, however, it is preferable to Common Bunting, and may, therefore, be allowed to remain for the present. I will now pass on to the next species. The Whitethroated Fauvet (Ficedula cinerea, Blyth), is well known, and abounds in almost every part of the British isles, though rather a rare bird in Derbyshire. Here, indeed, it is not met with more commonly than the Garrulous Fauvet (F. garrula, Blyth). It haunts, for the most part, the thickest and most impenetrable brakes, apart from which it is seldom seen. The Garrulous Fauvet occurs more frequently in thick hedges, and also in osier beds; and though sometimes found in trees, usually resorts rather close to the ground. The comparative scarcity of the Whitethroated Fauvet may probably be accounted for by the paucity of underwood and braky woods in these parts, and likewise to the unremitting vigilance with which the woods are cleansed of what is probably considered as rubbish, though, to the ornithologist, the thick impenetrable briers underneath the trees appear in a far different light. About eight years ago, the woods and their denizens enjoyed comparative repose; at that period, probably, the Whitethroated Fauvet was as plentiful as elsewhere; but of late the woods and groves have been much too thin and open to afford requisite shelter to these pretty birds: and should the rage for wood-cutting continue with the same zeal with which it has hitherto been conducted, we shall, in turn, have to regret the departure of others of our sylvan choristers. The next genus which claims our attention on the present occasion, is Picus, the Woodpeckers. Of these, the Green Woodpecker, (P. viridis), and the Pied Woodpecker (P. maculosus, S. D. W.), are equally and abundantly distributed throughout Britain; but here they are rarely observed, although decayed timber is far from scarce in this neighbourhood. Sudbury Park contains an immense number of old and magnificent trees, exactly suited to the bill of the Woodpecker; and yet, in all my researches in that extensive Park, during eight or ten years, I have only thrice met with the Green Woodpecker, and but once with the Pied species. For this I can adduce no satisfactory reason, especially as many species of ON THE RARITY OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN DERBYSHIRE. 33 similar tastes, as the Wryneck, Nuthatch, Creeper, &c., are very common in this vicinity, and more especially in the Park above alluded to. Even Bagot's Park, (about eight miles distant), apparently yet more favourable to the Woodpeckers, is seldom enlivened with its loud laugh. I have met with the Green Woodpecker in abundance in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and other counties. Having thus given some account of the very remarkable scarcity of several species common in most other localities, I shall proceed to notice a few which are abundant in Derbyshire and rare elsewhere. The most deserving of notice, is the Siskin Goldwing, (Carduelis spinus), which all our Ornithologists describe as a rare and uncertain visitant, but as arriving in large flocks when it does appear. Now, both my own observations, and those communicated to me by others, tend to a totally opposite conclusion; and indeed I have no hesitation in pronouncing the species indigenous in Britain. That numbers of them do migrate there is no doubt; but a tolerably large proportion of them, I am convinced, remain and breed with us; though their shy and secluded habits during the spring and summer months prevent them, in a great measure, from being observed at that season. Indeed, so sedulously does it conceal itself in the midst of the thickest woods and forests, that though I have frequently heard it during the breeding season, yet to get a sight of it is by no means a easy matter; and this, doubtless, accounts for its having been overlooked by the naturalists of other counties. I first discovered, to a certainty, that this species breeds in the south of Derbyshire, in the summer of 1831, when a pair of these birds were caught in the month of July. I have never been able to discover the nest; probably on account of its being built on the lofty and inaccessible trees to which it is so partial. It appears to prefer the fir to any other tree, where it is met with throughout the year, but most abundantly in winter, when they arrive in considerable numbers from foreign parts. The Marsh Reedling (Salicaria arundinacea) is generally supposed to be confined to the southern counties, and Selby mentions Nottinghamshire as its northern limit. But it is tolerably abundant in every part of Derbyshire and Staffordshire which I have explored, frequenting the low, flat, and swampy portions of the country. It is, however, much less abundant than its garrulous congener, the Sedge Reedling (S. phragmitis). The supposed scarcity of the Siskin Goldwing and Marsh Reedling is doubtless owing to the little attention paid to ornithology, by those living in the country. VOL. V. NO. XVII. E |