Birds.—Sand-martins, cuckoos, swallows, house-martins, nightingales, swifts, and other birds arrive. Kestrels and sparrow-hawks nest. Fieldfares and redwings depart.
Frogs and Toads.—Tadpoles hatch.
Insects.—Cabbage-white butterflies ([p. 362]) and other Lepidoptera emerge from pupae. Caterpillars are plentiful. Moths may be taken on willow flowers at beginning of month. Larvae of Dytiscus ([p. 361]) and other aquatic insects may be found in ponds.
Molluscs.—Garden snails (p. 379) reappear.
MAY.
PLANT LIFE.
Plants usually in flower.—Wallflower, shepherd’s purse, buttercup, anemone, marsh marigold, laburnum, common vetch, red clover, white clover, broom, cherry, apple, pear, strawberry, hawthorn, primrose, cowslip, daisy, dandelion, speedwell, red deadnettle, white deadnettle, lily of the valley, wild hyacinth, star of Bethlehem, wild tulip, rushes, sedges, arum, sweet-scented vernal grass, slender foxtail, meadow foxtail, annual meadow grass, perennial rye grass, oak, beech, birch, willow, elm, horse-chestnut, ash, sycamore, and others.
Most forest trees are now in leaf.