INDEX.

Agarics, the pale gray species of, 86

— the verdigris, ibid.

— not easily investigated, 87

— the odorous agaric, 91

— the scented, ibid.

— the “stainer,” ibid.

— the surrectus springing from another species, 256.

Agriculture, practice of, at a village in Gloucestershire, 22

— bad custom of the farmers there, 40.

Aërial hummings, 250.

Amusements, heretofore holiday ones, in decline, 246.

Animals, increase of, 101

— what dependent on man, 151

— what independent, 152

— usefulness of, to man, 153

— affection of, to their young, 176

— mercy to, a scriptural command, ibid.

Ant, the black, 212

— the red, 213

— the yellow, ibid.

Apples injured by aphides, 235

— spottings on, how occasioned, 255.

Ash trees, 267.

Atmospheric influences, 249

— observations, 269

— experiments, 275.

Augerworms, 203.

Autumn, pleasure of a morning’s walk in, 83.

Aust ferry, 9.

Bee, the carpenter, 53.

Beetle, the rose, 53

— the dorr, 217

— the great water species, 224, 232.

Birds, partiality of the author to, 109, 120

— migration of, 110, 145

— injurious to trees, 114

— various food of, ibid.

— song and voices of, 119, 178. 189

332— nests of, 121, 122, 123, 124

— great destroyers of insects, 124

— species of, diminishing in number, 137

— labor of, to feed their young, 140

— friendship of, 147

— eggs of, 156, 182

— dislike of, to man, 160

— stratagem of one, 163

— early rising of, 164

— boldness of, 176

— solitary and congregating ones, 178

— language of, unvarying, 185

— pleasure afforded by, to man, 189

— For the different kinds, see their respective English names.

Blackbird, song of the, 188.

Blackcap, the, 159.

Blight, 236

— some trees not affected by, ibid.

— manner in which this insect propagates itself, 237

— whence derived, uncertain, 238

— saline winds a supposed cause of, 254.

Bombylius, the, 211.

Bones of horses and human beings dug up, conjecture respecting, 11.

Bouquets, wearing of, not in use, 57.

Bramble, the common, almost an evergreen, 77

— lines on its leaves, ibid.

— its uses, 78.

Bull-finch, the, 113.

Bunting, peculiar practice of the, 173.

Burnet, conjecture as to its lasting verdure, 63.

Butcher-bird, the, 134.

Butterfly, the sulphur, 74

— the argus, 195

— the phlæas, 196

— the azure, ibid.

— the painted lady, 198

— the marble, 199

— the meadow brown, ibid.

333Caloric, effects of, on bodies, 271.

Chaffinch, the, 116.

Changes in nature, 221.

Cheese, cheap kind of, 22.

Christmassing, 246.

Chrysalides of insects, 191.

Chrysalis, singular one, 186.

Cleanliness of animals, 219.

Clematis, the wild, 81

— sticks of, used by boys for smoking, 82.

Clocks, name given to the great dorr beetle, 217.

Cockchaffer, 220.

Coins dug out of the earth, 10.

Color, probably reflected light, 60.

Coral polypi, 15.

Crossbill, the, 128.

Cruelty, a vice of the ignorant, 96.

Dandelion, the, 74.

Day’s eye, the, 74.

Death’s-head moth, 222.

Digestion, power of, in birds, 146.

Dog, usefulness of, to man, 153.

Dogsbane destructive to insects, 61.

Dry-rot, the, 88.

Dyers, capricious in their art, 59.

Dyers’ broom, 58

— gathering of, 59

— uses of, ibid.

— dyers’ weed, 72.

Earth-worm, the common, 231.

Elm tree, the wych, a singularly beautiful one, 46

— value of, 47

— uses of, ibid.

— soon decays, 48

— leaves of the elm marked with plague-spots, 89.

Empiricism, 235.

Entomology, 190.

Evaporation from the earth, effect of, 63.

Fairfax, general, supposed skeletons of some of his foragers, 11.

334Fairy rings, 250.

Fescue, spines of the hard, bearing no flowers, 77.

Fieldfare, the, 181.

Flea, the water, 215.

Flowers of plants, 52

— pleasures afforded by, 53

— use and application of, 54, 56

— natural love of, 54

— the playthings of children, 55.

Fly, the house, 151

— the biting, ibid.

— the four-spotted dragon, 192.

Flycatcher, the gray, 146.

Foxglove, 67.

Friendship between birds, instance of, 146, 147.

Frost, early, effect of on flowering plants, 276.

Fungi, beauties of, 85

— varieties of, 86

— uncertain appearance of, ibid.

— mutations of, 87

— agents of decay, 88

— propagation of, 93.

Fur of animals, 107.

Gallinaceous birds, 172.

Gamma moth, the, 210.

Ghost moth, 190.

Glaucous birthwort, 62.

Gleaning, profits of, to the poor, 244

— antiquity of the custom, 245.

Glow-worm, the, 207.

Gnat, the winter, 189.

Goat moth, 202.

Goldfinch, the, 166.

Grass crops, nature of, in the author’s village, 22

— certain grasses attached to certain soils, 23

— grass balls, 77.

Guinea, anecdote of the finding of one, 248.

Hair of animals, 106.

Hairworm, the clay, 226.

Hawk, the sparrow, 144

— the kestrel, ibid.

— the hawk-moth, 197.

335Hay, crops of, method of saving, 25.

Hazel-tree, how liable to decay, 90.

Hedgehog, the, 96.

Hellebore, 52

— its medicinal uses, ibid.

Helvella, the mitred, 87.

Holly-trees, 247.

Hornet, the, 227.

Horse, instance of the longevity of one, 127.

Hummingbird, hawk-moth, the, 197.

Hummings in the air, 250.

Hydnum fungus, the beautiful floriform, 87.

Ice, cause of its swimming instead of sinking, 271.

Industry, profitable fruits of, to an agricultural laborer, 19.

Insects entrapped by the snapdragon, 61

— destroyed by the sun-dew, ibid.

— by the dogsbane with great suffering, ibid.

— paths of, on leaves, 77

— their manner of puncturing, 81

— consumption of, by birds, 124

— but little attended to or studied, 190

— chrysalis of, 191

— speedy methods of killing them, 264

— best mode of preserving specimens, 265.

Insensibility to pain, striking instance of, 17.

Ivy, 64.

Jack Snipe. See Snipe.

Jay, the, 133.

Kite, the, its numbers greatly on the decline, 158

— extraordinary capture of a number, 158.

Labor of the peasantry in the author’s village, profits of, 19.

336Lady-bird note of a song-thrush, 188.

Language of birds, 185.

Laurel-tree, the, 89.

Leasing. See Gleaning.

Life, duration of, 126.

Lily, blossoms of, indicative of old of the price of wheat, 174.

Lime, 12

— nature and uses of, 13

— its abundance, ibid.

— formation and origin of, ibid.

— analysis of, 15

— residences upon its soil supposed to be healthy, 17.

Lime-kiln, frightful consequences of a traveller’s sleeping on one, 17.

Linnet, the, 112.

Longevity. See Life.

Magpie, the, 132.

Manure, picking it from grass lands for corn-lands, a bad practice, 40.

Maple tree, 79

— the under sides of the leaves of, a beautiful microscopic object, 80.

Marten cat, the, 95.

Maypoles, now seldom seen, 246.

Migration of birds, 110, 145.

Mistletoe, 71.

Moles, 104

— their sense of smelling, 106

— rankness of their flesh, 108.

Morell, the stinking, 92

— the esculent, 94.

Moth, the ghost, 192

— the hawk, 197

— the yellow under-wing, 200

— the gamma, 201

— the goat, 202

— the death’s-head, 222

— the ermine, 243.

Mouse, the harvest, 99

— the water, 101

— the common, 151

— the meadow, and long-tailed, ibid.

Natural affection, 133.

337Natural history little attended to, 41.

Naturalist, pleasing occupations of the, 83.

Nature, designs of, 204

— changes in, 221

— tendencies of, to produce, 277.

Nests of birds, 121, 122.

Newt, the common, 215

— a small shell-fish often attached to its toes, ibid.

Nidularia, the bell-shaped, 94.

Nightingale, the, less common than heretofore, 138

— croaking of, 188.

Nosegays, 57.

Oak tree, description of one, 42

— several of extraordinary magnitude, 43, 45

— the oak less fruitful now than formerly, 44

— its value, from its various uses, 46.

Oat-grass, 70.

Pain, instance of insensibility to, 17.

Passerine birds, 172.

Peacock butterfly (note), 200.

Peewit, the, 179.

Phallus. See Morell.

Pick-a-bud, name given to the bull-finch, 114.

Pimpernel, the, a prognosticator of fine weather, 174.

Plants, blossoms of, 52

— names given to them of old, from their supposed qualities, 68

— pores of, 82

— decomposition of, 89.

Pollarding trees, 267.

Polypi of the coral, 15.

Poor, employment of the, 18.

Poplar tree, 57.

Potato, culture of the, 26

— sorts, 27

— profits, 28

— effects of, on soils, 30

— history of, ibid.

— value of, as food, 35.

338Prognostications of wind and weather. See Wind and Weather.

Providence, inattention to, 234.

Puff, the gray, 87

— the turreted, 93

— the stellated, 94.

Rapacious birds, 171.

Rats, migration of, 101

— other particulars of, 151.

Raven, the, 125.

Redwing, 180.

Reeking of the earth, 269.

Robin, the, 115.

Roman encampment, 9

— roads, 10.

Rook, the, 128

— its affection, 129

— sagacity, 130

— appears to be decreasing in numbers, 138.

Rose, the white moss, 238 (note), the wild, 263.

Royal forest, indications of one in Gloucestershire, 11.

Seasons, variableness of, 145

— effect of, 240.

Sex, increase of, in 1825, 102, note.

Shrew, the water, 102

— the common, 113

— new species of, 104.

Shrike. See Butcher-bird.

Sinking of the earth, 252.

Sky-lark, the, 184.

Smelling, question of the sense of, in birds, 132.

Smokewood, sticks of the wild clematis so called, 82.

Snail, the common, 228

— the banded, 231

— the halotideus, 238.

Snakes, eggs of, 208

— harmlessness of, 209

— general aversion to, 210.

Snapdragon, peculiarities of, 60

— an insect trap, ibid, 62.

Snipe, the jack, its habits, 176

— supposed the male of the larger snipe, 178.

339Snowdrop, the, 69

— a melancholy flower, 70.

Soil, of the parish in which the author resides, 12

— various sorts of, 20

— analysis of, useless, ibid.

— picking soil off grass lands a bad custom, 40.

Song of birds. See Birds.

Sparrow, the hedge, 109

— the common, 149.

Spottings, on apples, 255

— on strawberry leaves, 257.

Starling, the common, 139

— the brown, 142.

Steaming of the earth, 269.

Stinking phallus, the, 92.

Stormy petrel, the, 135.

Strontian, 16.

Sulphur butterfly, 74.

Sun-dew, destructive to insects, 61.

Superstition, 222, 230.

Swallows, their nests, 123

— killed in wanton sport, 155.

Sycamore tree, singularity of its leaves, 89.

Teasel, its cultivation, 35

— its profits, 37

— its uses, 39.

Thorn, the white, uniform in its blossoming, 145.

Thrush, the solitary, 142

— the common, 147

— the missel, 175

— song of, 188.

Timidity of animals, 176.

Tokens. See Prognostications.

Tom-tit, or titmouse, the little blue, rewards for the destruction of, 117

— perishes in severe winters, 118

— the long-tailed, 120

— instance of its intelligence in the care of its young, 124.

Traveller’s joy, name given to the wild clematis, 81.

Trees, attractors of humidity, 48

— condense fogs, 49

— verdure beneath, ibid

— mischief of pollarding them, 267.

340Tree-creeper, the, 167.

Turnip, singularly decorated one, as a holiday amusement, 247.

Uredo, the two-fronted, a substance attached to the leaves of the laurel, 89.

Vermin, parish reward for the destruction of, 117.

Vervain, 71

— respect paid of old to this plant, ibid.

— its supposed powers and qualities, 72.

Village clubs, 57.

Wagtail, yellow, the, 168.

Wald, or wold, the dyers’ weed so called, 72.

Want, the, 104.

Wasp, the common, 199

— the solitary, 226

— its nest, ibid.

Water, stagnated and putrescent, favorable for the residence of insects, 215.

Water-flea, 216.

Water shrew, 102.

Wheat, crops of, method of saving, 26.

Wheatear, the, 154.

Whirly pits, what, 252.

Willow tree, 269.

Winds and weather, old tokens of, 174, 180

— saline winds a supposed cause of blight, 254.

Winter, the season of, depicted 270.

Woodlark, the, 184.

Woodlouse, 214.

Worm, the hair, 226

— the common, 231.

Wren, the willow, 110

— the golden-crested, 118, 122

— the common, instance of its stratagem to preserve its nest, 163.

Wryneck, the, 137.

341Wych elm. See Elm.

Year 1825, singular increase of sex in the, 102, note

— other peculiarities of, 259.

Yellow weed, name given to dyers’ weed, 72

— yellow the prevailing color of the flowers of plants in spring, 73

— and in autumn, 74.

THE END.

342