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And, led by kindred thought, will flee,
Till, back to careless infancy,
The path she measures.

Beneath autumnal breezes bleak,
So faintly fair, so sadly meek,
I've seen thee bending,

Pale as the pale blue veins that streak
Consumption's thin, transparent cheek,
With death-hues, blending,

Thou shalt be sorrow's love and mine ;;
The violet and the eglantine

With spring are banished.

In sunimer's beam the roses shine,
But I of thee my wreath will twine,

When these are vanished,

May You Like It.

The yellow star of Bethlehem (ornithogalum luteum) in woods; the vernal squill (scilla verna) among maritime rocks; and the wood-sorrel (oxalis acetosella), are now in full flower. The leaves of the wood-sorrel abound with acid, which is extracted, and, when crystallized, forms the salt of lemons, useful for removing stains in linen. This and the wood anemoné (anemone nemorosa), now in flower, have both white blossoms, and inhabit shady woods. The elm (ulmus campestris) is in full leaf.-See some beautiful lines by Lord Byron in our last volume, p. 126.

Young moles are now to be found in their nests; this is a good time, therefore, for destroying them. Weasels and stouts are great enemies to moles, and frequently get into their holes, kill the inhabitants, and take up their own abode there.

The tenants of the air are, in this month, busily employed in forming their temporary habitations, and in rearing and maintaining their offspring.For poetical illustrations, see our former volumes.

About the middle of April, the bittern (ardea stellaris) makes a hollow booming noise, during the

night in the breeding season, from its swampy re

treats.

To a WATER-FOWL.

By an American Poet.

Whither 'midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far through their rosy depths, dost thon pursue
Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler's eye

Might mark thy distant fight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.

Seek'st thou the plashy brink
Of weedy lake, or maze of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
On the chafed ocean side?

There is a Power whose care
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,-
The desert and illimitable air,—

Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,
At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere;
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end;

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,
And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend
Soon o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou'st gone, the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart,
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart.

HE, who from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,

Will lead my steps aright.

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Various kinds of insects are now seen sporting in the sun-beams,' and living their little hour.' The jumping spider (aranea scenica) is observed on garden walls; and the webs of other species of spiders are found on the bushes, palings, and outsides of houses. The iulus terrestris appears, and the death-watch

(termes pulsatorius) beats early in the month.

The

wood-ant (formica herculanea) now begins to construct its large conical nest. Little maggots, the first state of young ants, are now to be found in their nests. The shell-snail comes out in troops; the stinging-fly (conops calcitrans) and the red-ant (formica rubra) appear.

The mole-cricket (gryllus gryllotalpa) is the most remarkable of the insect tribe seen about this time. The blue flesh-fly (musca vomitoria) and the dragonfly (libellula) are frequently observed towards the end of the month. The great variegated libellula (libellula varia of Shaw), which appears, principally, towards the decline of summer, is an animal of singular beauty. The cabbage butterfly also (papilio brassica) now appears. The black slug (limex ater) abounds at this season.-See T.T. for 1821, p. 128; and on the best mode of destroying them, p. 129. The newt (lacerta aquatica) lies buried during the winter months in the mud of stagnant waters, but may now be seen crawling along the bottoms of ponds and deep ditches, seeking for its food the minute insects that frequent those stations.

River fish leave their winter retreats, and again become the prey of the angler.

In the narrow sunny plashes near,

Observe the puny piscatory swarm,
That with their tiny squadrons tack and veer,
Cruising amidst the shelves and shallows warm,

Chasing, or in retreat, with hope or fear

Of petty plunder or minute alarm;

With clannish instinct how they wheel and face,
Inherited arts, inherent in the race:

Or mark the jetty, glossy tribes that glance
Upon the water's firm unruffled breast,

Tracing their antient labyrinthic dance

In mute mysterious cadence unexpressed.

WHISTLECRAFT.

Towards the end of the month, the song of the black-cap (motacilla atricapilla) is heard, affording

great delight to the lovers of rural harmony. He is very destructive in the garden, and is particularly fond of the Antwerp raspberry, and a ripe jargonel pear.-See T.T. for 1821, p. 122.

The spring flight of pigeons (columbæ) appears in this month, or early in the next.

Dry weather is still acceptable to the farmer, who is employed in sowing various kinds of grain, and seeds for fodder, as buck-wheat, lucerne, saintfoin, clover, &c. The young com and springing-grass, however, are materially benefited by occasional showers. The important task of weeding now begins with the farmer, and every thistle cut down, every plant of charlock pulled up, may be said to be not only an advantage to himself, but a national benefit. On weeds, see T.T. for 1821, p. 162.

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MAY.

MAY is so called from Maia, the mother of Mercury, to whom sacrifices were offered by the Romans on the 1st of this month; or, according to some, from respect to the senators and nobles of Rome, who were named Majores, as the following month was termed Junius, in honour of the youth of Rome.

Remarkable Days

In MAY 1823.

1. MAY DAY.

ALL ranks, formerly, went out into the woods a maying early on the first of this month; returning laden with boughs and garlands, and spending the remainder of the day in dancing round a May-pole. This custom is still preserved in various remote distriets of England: generally speaking, however, the

vivacity of May-day is confined to the chimneysweepers, as if in mockery, and to a few would-be morris-dancers about the country, who look foolish and beg halfpence.

From our Huntingdonshire correspondent we have received the following information respecting the modern celebration of May-day in some provincial towns and villages. The chief remains (he remarks) of the observance of this day in our provincial towns and villages in modern times, is in the garlands which are exhibited by the children. To a horizontal hoop two semi-hoops are affixed vertically at right angles, forming a sort of crown, and to these are affixed flowers, ribands, handkerchiefs, necklaces, silver spoons, and whatever finery can be procured: this is suspended, at a considerable height above the road, by a rope extending across from house to house (from chimney to chimney of the lowly cottage), while the children attempt to throw their balls over it from side to side, singing, and some begging halfpence from passengers: a May-lady or doll, or larger figure, dressed up, sometimes makes an appendage in some side nook. The money thus collected is afterwards spent in a tea-drinking, with cakes, &c., when something like the following lines are said or sung by the children :

The MAY-DAY GARLAND.

The lilac, laburnum, the iris, and cheer,

The hawthorn, the cowslip, the king-cob, so gay;
Each beauty which gladdens the spring of the year,
And the 'kerchiefs and ribands our friends have supplied,
In bows and in streamers are tastefully tied,

And form our sweet garland-our garland of May.
Beneath it we'll dance and we'll throw up the ball,
And all shall be gladness, good-humour, and play;

We'll sing, and in chorus we'll join one and all,
And glad as the season we'll lift up our voice,
And all within measure and reason rejoice

Beneath this gay garland-this garland of May.

May-day is, in some parts of Lincolnshire, the

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