Trans. vol. xx. 105; li. 459; liii. 101; lxiv. 156; lxv. 258, 343, &c. Pontop. Hist. Nor. ii. 98. Raii Synop. p. 71. Russel Alep. 70. Shaksp. Win. Tale, act iv. scene 3. l. 136; Mac. act i. scene 6. Î. 5; Tim. Ath. act iii. scene 6; Merch. Venice, act ii. scene 9. 1. 27. Thomps. Seas Aut. 1. 841. Trans. Lin. Soc. vol. i. 121; iii. 12; iv. 6. Will. Orn. lib. ii. cap. 3. tab. 39. p. 212. White Nat. Hist. Selb. vol. i. 283, 293; ii. 74, 197, 201. Zinnan. Nou. 34. There are many other writers, who speak of the Swallow, cited by Gesner, as Achaeus, Eustathius, Gyraldus, Thrasyllus, Nicol, Myrepsus, Fuchsius, &c. See also several works on popular Antiquities; Calendars of Flora and Fauna, &c. &c. Consult likewise " Deutschland's Vögel," "Wilson's Ornith." and the Journals of Meteorology. Gent. Mag. vol. x. p. 182; xix. 446; xxix. 356, 360; xxxi. 536; xxxii. 321; xxxiii. 514; xl. 57, 260, 263, 294; xlvi. 203, 270; li. 177; lvi. p. 708; lvii. 1190; lx. 24, 124, 495; lxi. 1102, 1207; lxii. 99, 506, 602, 713, 798, 805, 843, 677, 912, 978, 982, 1027, 1035, 1161, 1181; lxiii. 124, 135, 605, 703, 817; lxv. 980; lxvi. 3, 4, 96, 115, 196, 197, 210, 267, 270, 279, 385, 394, 399, 401, 480, 731, 994; lxvii. 179, 272, 1010; Ixix. 291; lxxi. 976; lxxiii. 415, 416; lxxiv. 410, 525, 620, 624, 713, 728, 829, 1118, 1187, 1211; lxxv. 114, 314, 704, 812, 1005, 1025, 1106; lxxvi. 430, 471, 703, 923, 995, 1016; Ixxvii. 8, 228, 326, 428, 503; lxxviii. 37, 409, &c; and particularly Gent. Mag. for 1823, plates. Month. Mag. vol. xix. p. 541; xxi. 415. Nicholson's Journal Nat. Phil. 1810. Tilloch's Phil. Mag. 1813, and Notes to Meteorol. Journals of T. Forster. To these we may add, Gmel. Syst. i. 1017. Scop. Ann. i. 250. Trich. t. 17. Borowsk, Nat. Hist. iv. 154. Gunth. N. u. Eg. t. 28. Dr. Clarke's, of Cambridge, Travels, vol. iii. and iv. Conf. also Scop. Anni. p. 165. Muller, No. 28. Kram. El. No. 1, p. 380. Brun. Orn. p. 73. Geor. Reise, p. 175. Frisch. Tab. 18. Pall. Tr. vol. ii. 709. Act. Holm. 1769. Spic. Zoolog. Planch. Enl. 545, f. i. Bris. Ornithol. ii. No. 6. Mem. sur Cayenne, vol. ii. 276. Edwards, &c. &c. &c. April 3. SS. Agape, &c. Martyrs. St. Richard. FAUNA. The Lesser Pettychaps, or Least Willow Wren Ficedula pinetorum begins now to be numerous. This is the smallest of the Willow Wrens, and is the Sylvia Hippolais of Latham's Synopsis. This bird remains with us till the beginning of Winter.-See Forster's Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds, published by Nicholls and Co. in 1817, No. 103, where it is called Trochilus Minor. Nidification of Birds.-The warblers being now either arrived or arriving daily, begin the business of love, and commence the work of nestmaking; and the divers sorts of nests of each species, adapted to the wants of each, and springing out of their respective instincts, combined with the propensity to construct, form a curious subject of research for the Natural Historian. Every part of the world furnishes materials for the aerial architects: leaves and small twigs, roots and dried grass, mixed with clay, serve for the external; whilst moss, wool, fine hair, and the softest animal and vegetable downs, form the warm internal part of these 1 commodious dwellings. The following beautiful lines from Thomson are highly descriptive of the busy scene which takes place during the time of Nidification: Of vernal songters-some to the holly hedge, Their food its insects, and its moss their nests: Or roughening waste, their humble texture weave: On the Nestling of Birds, from Bidlake. Or hollow, trodden by the sinking hoof; M Songster of heaven! who to the Sun such lays Which age has caverned, safely courts repose: April 4. ST. AMBROSE? St. Isidore. St. Plato. St. Ambrose was, first, a praefect, or judge, and afterwards Bishop of Milan in Italy. While Ambrose was in his cradle, a swarm of Bees,' as Paulinus affirms, settled on his lips; a prognostic of future eloquence, similar to that related of Plato. At a very early period he had perfected himself in the study of the civil law, and practised as an advocate at Rome; where, being noticed for his superior talents, he was appointed Governor of Liguria and Aemilia. Ambrose died at Milan, on the 4th of April 397, and was buried in the great church; a cathedral remarkable for the excellence of its structure and the beauty of its ornaments. His works continue to be held in much respect, particularly the hymn of Te Deum,' which he is said to have composed when he baptized St. Augustine, his celebrated convert. St. Ambrose is considered as the first who introduced the antiphonant method of chanting, or one side of the choir alternately responding to the other; from whence that particular mode obtained the name of the Ambrosian Chant, while the plain song, introduced by St. Gregory, still practised in the Romish service, is called the Gregorian, or Roman Chant.-See St. Ambrose, Dec. 7. FLORA. The Crown Imperial Fritillaria Imperialis is usually in blow by this time, as is the Chequered Daffodil Fritillaria Maleagris. Origin of April.-April is derived from Aprilis of aperio, 'I open,' because the earth, in this month, begins to open her bosom for the production of vegetables. The Saxons called this month Ostermonat, from the goddess Goster, or because the winds were found to blow generally from the East in this month. CHRONOLOGY.-Oliver Goldsmith died in 1774. We have selected, to close the account of today, the following lines: On the Return of Spring Birds, from Jago's Swallows. At length the Winter's howling blasts are o'er, Again the Daisies peep, the Violets blow; And see, my Delia, see o'er yonder stream, Again the Swallows take their wonted way. Welcome, ye gentle tribe, your sports pursue; Again I'll listen to your grave debates; Again I'll hear your twittering songs unfold What policy directs your wandering states, What bounds are settled, and what tribes enrolled. April 5. St. Vincent Ferrer, C. St. Gerald. St. Becan. St. Tigernach. NONAE. Megalesia.-Rom. Cal. Hebae. Ovid. The Megalesia were games in honour of Cybele, instituted by the Phrygians, and introduced at Rome in the second Punic war, when the statue of the goddess was brought from Pessinus.-Liv. xxix. c. 14. Ovid. Fast. iv. v. 337. CHRONOLOGY.-Some have pretended that this has been ascertained to be the day on which Jesus Christ rose from the dead, anno 33. We do not, however, consider the precise time of the first Easter to have been positively established. The reader may consult, on this subject, Ferguson, Newton, and other Astronomical Chronologists. The miracle of the Resurrection is one of the grandest events in religious history, as affording the most positive proof of a future state. The three miracles of this sort, wrought by Jesus Christ in proof of his doctrine, are already well known to every one; and we would recommend to those who desire to pursue inquiries into this subject, to consult the accounts left of numerous similar miracles recorded and arranged in that mass of religious information, Butler's Lives of the Saints, 12 vols. 8vo. 1812. For more particulars concerning Easter, see April 10. Milton, in Lycidas, gives the following beautiful lines on the Resurrection of the Body: Weep no more, woful Shepherds, weep no more, Sunk though he be beneath the watery floor. And yet anon repairs his drooping head, And tricks his beams, and with newspangled ore So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high, Through the dear might of him that walked the waves; April 6. St. Sextus I. Pope. St. Celsus. St. Prudentius. St. Celestine. St. William, C. Orises at v. 25'. and sets VI. 35'. Old Lady Day. Fortunae Publicae Dianae Natalis.-Rom. Cal. Fortune or the Goddess of Chances, celebrated today in the Roman Calendar, was thus addressed by Horace, lib. ì. ode 35: O Diva, gratum quae regis Antium, Vertere funeribus triumphos: Te Dacus asper, te profugi Scythae, Injurioso ne pede proruas Stantem columnam: neu populus frequens Concitet, imperiumque frangat. |