budding on the gooseberries and currants about the end of the month.

What are called Dissected Leaves,-i. e. leaves of which the cuticle and cellular membranes have been decomposed by the active influence of wintry rains, winds and frosts, leaving only a curious network of the veiny fibres,—are, about this season, found blowing about in our path, particularly in woods, and strongly attract the attention of young people, who frequently attempt imitations of them by the application of vinegar or other acids to leaves yet undecomposed.

Moles go to work in throwing up their hillocks as soon as the earth is softened. Under some of the largest, a little below the surface of the earth, they make their nests of moss, in which four or five young are found at a time. These animals live on worms, insects, and the roots of plants. They do much mischief in gardens, by loosening and devouring flower-roots; but in the fields they seem to do no other harm than rendering the surface of the ground unequal by their hillocks, which obstruct the scythe in mowing. They are said also to pierce the sides of dams and canals, and let out the water. Of this latter charge we should be doubtful. Their instinct, it is very probable, will preserve them from letting off water which would drown

them, and the approach to which they must perceive by the moisture of the soil.

A Mole-catcher, Miss Mitford has said, "is of the earth, earthy;" but he is of the green fields, of the solitary woodlands. We observe him, especially in the spring and the autumn, a silent and picturesque object, poring under hedges and along the skirts of the forest, or the margin of a stream, for traces of The little black-a-moor pioneer

Grubbing his way in darkness drear.

We have met him in copses and hazel-shaded lanes, cutting springs for his traps; and we not only love him, and look upon him as one of the legitimate objects of rural scenery, but have often found him a quiet but shrewd observer of nature, and capable of enriching us with many fragments of knowledge. In the winter by his fire he makes his traps. These are very simple machines, which almost any one may construct. We have made and set many a one ourselves,

and have been up by the to discover their success.

earliest dawn of day Many moles may be

caught in one place, if the trap be judiciously set in a main burrow. It is better near a hedge, or in a plantation, than in the middle of a field, where it is liable to be disturbed by cattle. A strong hazel stick for the spring, two pieces of brass wire, a little string, a few hooked pegs, and a top made of the half of a piece of willow

pole, about six inches long and three in diameter, hollowed out, are all the requisites for a mole-trap.

Thrashing, tending cattle, early lambs, calves, etc. continue, as in last month, to occupy the thoughts and the hands of the husbandman. Manures too are carried to grass lands. Ploughing is on the increase; and spring wheat, beans, peas, oats, and tares are sown. In mild weather, hedges are planted; overgrown fences are cut, or plashed. Ponds and drains are made. Timber is felled, and tree-seeds are sown. Copsewood is cut, and plantations are thinned. In the garden, various operations of pruning, digging, sowing, etc. are going on.

ANGLING.

Almost every fresh-water fish is in season excepting chub, during the latter half of the month, and trout, which continues so till April. Roach and dace are deemed to be this month in prime. They frequent rivers, and must be sought for at this season in deep, shaded holes, in clear waters with gravelly bottoms; dace, particularly amongst weeds, and under the foam caused by eddies. The best baits for them now are paste, gentles, or larvæ of beetles, got by digging up the roots of plants. The flies of this

month are plain hackle, great dun, great blue dun, and dark dun.

Anas acuta, Pintailed Duck, comes Dec. Lakes and shores.
Anser Brenta, Wild-goose, Brent, goes Feb. 3, comes Dec. 18.
Lakes and marshes.

Anser palustris, Wild-goose, Grey Lagg, goes Feb. 10, comes
Oct. 6. Fens.

Anser Erythropus, Laughing Goose, comes Dec. Northern and Western Coasts.

Anser Bernicla, Bernacle Goose, comes Dec. Northern and Western Coasts.

Bombycilla Garrula, Silk-tail, Waxen-chatterer, comes Nov. Near ivy and hawthorns.

Calidris arenaria, Sanderling, comes Aug. 28. English beach. Charadrius pluvialis, Golden Plover, goes Feb. 6, comes Nov. 5. Heathy mountains.

Clangula vulgaris, Golden-eyed Pocher, comes Nov. 29. Shores and fresh meres.

Columba Enas, Stock Dove, comes Nov. Woods.

Colymbus arcticus, Black-throated Diver, comes Dec. Sea-shore. Colymbus septentrionalis, Red-throated Diver, comes Dec. Seashore.

Curruca provincialis, Dartford Warbler, comes Oct. About London.

Cygnus ferus, Wild Swan, goes Feb. comes Sept. 4. Northern
Lakes-The Trent.

Fringilla Montifringilla, Mountain Finch, comes Aug. Mountains.
Fringilla Spinus, Siskin, comes Aug. South. About London.
Limosa ægocephala, Godwit, comes Aug. Marshes.
Limosa rufa, Bar-tailed Godwit, comes Aug. Sea-shore.

Mergus Merganser, Goosander, goes Feb. 4, comes Dec. 18.
Pools and fens.

Mergus Albellus, White-headed Smew, comes Dec. 18. Seashore.

Numenius arquata, Sea Curlew, goes Feb. 6, comes Sept. 4.

Moors in summer.

Nyroca Marila, Scaup Duck, comes Dec.

winters.

Coasts in severe

Oidemia fusca, Velvet Duck, comes Dec. Sea-shore.

Oidemia nigra, Black Duck or Diver, comes Dec. Coasts ip

severe winters.

Podiceps minor, Lesser Guillimot, comes Oct. Sea-shore.
Somateria mollissima, Eider Duck, comes Dec.

Northumberland.

Tarn Island,

Totanus Glottis, Green-shanked Godwit, comes Aug. Sea-shore. Tringa Canutus, Knot, goes Feb. 3, comes Aug. 28. Sea-shore. Tringa Alpina, Purre, comes Aug. 28. Sea-shore.

These, it will be seen at a glance, are birds of more northern climates, which have merely sought to escape the wintry rigours of their native regions, and are now returning to prepare for the cares and enjoyments of the summer in the Orkneys, Shetlands, Iceland, Greenland, and about Hudson's Bay, etc. Several of them, however, only partially migrate, as the godwit, purre, sanderling, sea curlew, etc., resorting to the fens and moors in the interior in and returning to the coast in winter.

summer,

CALENDAR OF THE FLOWER-Garden.

Crocus vernus, Class III. Order 1. Spring Crocus. 3.
Cornus mascula, IV. 1. Cornelian Cherry. 3.
Bulbocodium vernus. Spring Bulbocodium. 3.

Andromeda angustifolia, X. 1. Narrow-leaved Andromeda. 4.
Helleborus lividus, XIII. 7. Spot-leaved Hellebore.

Tussilago fragrans, XIX. 2. Fragrant Coltsfoot. 3.

SELECT CALENDAR OF BRITISH BOTANY.

Galanthus nivalis, Class VI. Order 1. Snowdrop. about ruins. Duration 3.

Locality,

Helleborus fœtidus, XIII. 3. Stinking Bearsfoot. Waste grounds. 3.

Lamium amplexicaule, XIV. 1. Great Henbit. 8.

Draba verna, XV. 1.

sandy places. 4.

Common Whitlow grass. Old walls and

Ulex Europæus, XVII. 3.
Senecio vulgaris, XIX. 2.
Taxus baccata, XXII. 8.

Gorse or Whin. Heaths, etc. 12.
Groundsel. Gardens. 12.

Common Yew. Mountainous woods. 3.