BIRDS AS WEATHER PROPHETS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14969, 16 May 1914, Page 5

BIRDS AS WEATHER PROPHETS.

(,3t Dk.' F. W. HttGEh-poEr.) x

A few "weeks agoia signed letter-in these columns asked observers to note when fcbe song .of the thrush- was'first heard-again thie, autumn, and .to.let the writer.know, partly. because' of v the iiter<sst' of tho matter; ! in" .itselt', • and partly because the date : o? th« tbnifib s u/st' song was, or might-be, an indication cf the. nature the coming winter. '- '■ ■ ' . I heard the thnrsb.' -cstefla-v morning (that, is,-"Wednosdaj. May 13th>. and it \»ai a distinct pleasure-to have this member cf tho crohesira back to stsaist the sparrows, wrens, and biacß-Jbii;d£.'-that have ■ beep • providing our mornine music. So far. good: but that the date of hearing the .first fcO"S can bo .an-indication of -whether -.re aro to have, a sev>;i - e or mild winter I cannot belicvi?, without good evidence from past, records. -There-arc numerous beliefs that- tho profusion or. oF flowers .on various plants —particularly our native flax—is a.weather.indicator. A plentiful supply of .berries on hawthorn, briar, or lioli.v.is supposed t<? foretell an approacliing hard winter; and in'England'the date..of. the. return of the-MViUloc- is by same taken as ;an indie-Jtiwi of "the characior. of. the sue- , ceednig . ■ . ■ . •. .' ! ..But- .it ii afnio.-t impossible to. &upppW tha.t any^cP- Cncso things- can' be so.- By what imagiiiablo-.-process can a bird or a ; plant-,l}o acted upon by. weather as yet concealed-in. tho future— for. of c.'iursci. confacibus'act'on.'oii the-part-of the -piaiiTjs i» out c 7 the ■fiuci.t\oii* 'In tlio -coie of the lias, it- is surely *h> su'ppiy' cf 'svnrruthj moisture, and. soil-foods in the. tc-.i<?oh jusfc pait that "determines Vne'.number of noTver stalks produced. .If .ye. take ■ a plant jh.at ..ve'-jxaUy i<no"v r-Miio-.-'ungn-bout, w.c. &V?U *-:.oc < i'.tt- tait.-i& so. A crop of. wheat, for -instance, is vigorous or stunted, according to the mildness of the -spriii" and tho motstness of tho tunimer. ; aiiid ■ rcjrardjeis of 'the nature of the .approaching; aiitumn.: and it can hardly, be otherwise with tho flax, tlic. brihr, or the holly. . As to times''of. flowering native shrubs. I have .made some, obsevva-tions for a- t .committee, of the Canterbury Philosophical. Institute, and on looking into the .fipures, find . this interesting point,: -In'-*l9p£r, both our native ilai and our native ; broom , (Carmiohajia) were bursting .'into "flower on Xovember 14th. In- 1.911,' th flax was three . Ifl+pr.'-'avifl: i'"» t a week earlier than; in-1909: It'ie dear from tlrs ;that the, flax' and.- the .-native broom , were pivinf;,ov>oosi.te. indications, and -who" is to say whicli^plant ■ should bo taken as the 'It would seem more likely that the early, spring of:19.11 was somewliat. unsuitable to the, flax, ormore suitable to '.the Carmichalia." ;No-^...'wKat-' was tho -.nature of the sDrinsx.in.-.those years? .The rainfall for August. Sentomber, and October, 1009,/ was 9.03 inches. ,T,hisi, is a Ket season.' For the v 'same three : months 1911' the' rainfall -was ,'4.93 inches.; Tiis; is" dry.,- and,-doesn'.t, ejiiit the wet-loving•■,flax,'.which, therefore, flowers.;'three weeks later, "but it .does suit the , drought-resisting .Carmichalia; V"b icK" tliWefore~flswers' : a-'week earlier; But labour this point 'further.-, .-. •' ! ■'■ '..'■■*...;•'_y.\. >

, ,As for."' the. period- of .the return' of swallows in . . : 'iilat bothers to, read. , tb is article, will have redd Gilbert;' White's ''"Natural-. History of.Selbome." (I'See Melroee bas-a sixpenny edition now). -Well, of White < will: fradlri'. letters' 35, H$S 5p (iipte), and, 57,,' instances of• tho.return of swallows being by ibo-past season,' or "of* their having obmp back fo6lishly ' early.' • Ih"" the case of ' the thrush here,-I believo-that-the thrush sdugs alls the round, and that: we do* npt.-hear -him. beca,use he as-away from us. So .are the .wrens" and the blackbirds, bufc they return earlier in the autumn. Where do they'go? I think that "Canterbury,' vrho writes so', ably for ".The Press,', indicates'-in his last.: week's. .notes that .he■ is - of opinion -that "they to the nativo bush. That, at-any rate, is tn-r opinion, and , I .bdiere that- we .'hear, tne thrush when he , comes back, and that ho comes back wbon be , has eaten all the berries that' he, likes in the bush. The weather in .summer the sut>plv of berries., and the sunoly of berries determines, the. thrush's* sojourn in the'bush, and , we"hear him ems when he returns. :-Ho i« -.a. delipKtf"l songster, but-an unreliable • prophet. . . ... . ■ -...-,.