Or when from dreary yew, or mouldering tower The wailing owl, that ceaseless all night long 'Tis when some ling'ring stars scarce shed O'er the mist-clad mountain's head Then one by one retiring, shroud, Their fairy beam; Their last faint beam. Dim glitt'ring through a fleecy cloud, "Tis when (just waked from transient death By some fresh zephyr's balmy breath), Sheds on the air its rich perfume, Th' unfolding rose And beauty glows. While ev'ry bud with deeper bloom "Tis when fond Nature (genial pow'r!) Weeps o'er each drooping night-closed flow'r, Those doubtful mists, that leave to view Each glowing scene of various hue That charms the eye. 'Tis when the sea-girt turret's brow Receives the east's first kindling glow, And the dark wave, Swelling to meet the orient gleam, Reflects the warmly-strength'ning beam It seems to lave. ANON. "Tis when the restless child of sorrow, And seeks 'midst scenes so sweet, so mild, Nor day, nor night, this hour can claim, Of rising day. MISS OWENSON. The Naturalist's Diary For SEPTEMBER 1826. The nightingale now bends her flight Where thickets of pomegranate glisten. Thus the wise nightingale that leaves her home, To foreign groves does her old music bring. THIS is the season chosen by those serenaders of the night, to leave the shores of Albion for more congenial climes. Considerable numbers of these sweet warblers, like other birds of passage, have been observed in this month, in the little gardens within the very precincts of Brighton, and the young birds have been distinctly heard to make their call of congregation during the whole day. It is generally supposed that these feathered songsters emigrate to Syria, which was anciently called the Land of Roses, and where the Eastern poets tell us— 'The nightingales warbled their enchanting notes, and rent the thin veils of the rosebud and the rose.' The nightingales do not migrate so far to the west as Cornwall; they sometimes visit Yorkshire, but never favour Scotland or Ireland with their song. In September and October, the generality of our singing birds are to be no longer distinguished by their voices: the sweet sounds they are gifted with, which we call their song, seem to proceed from the male bird only during the season of incubation, and, except from accidental causes, all these cares have terminated before this period. One little bird, however, yet delights us with the sweetest harmony: in the calm mornings of this season of the year the woodlark carols in the air, chiefly in the neighbourhood of thickets and copses, with a soft quietness perfectly in unison with the sober, almost melancholy stillness of the hour. The sweet simple note of the robin is again heard, and the skylark delights us with his melody. But too often, however, in our autumnal rambles, in the neighbourhood of great towns we are forced to encounter the nets of the bird-catcher, which deprive us of great numbers of our favourite bird. The fond lark, Playing about the glittering snare, does tempt That pomp of brightness but a glorious bait. Although Flora is not lavish of her beauties in this month, she still presents specimens worthy of our admiration. There are in blow, in September, heart's-ease', nasturtia, marigolds, sweet peas, mig I HEART'S-EASE. I used to love thee, simple flow'r, By waking thoughts of pleasures fled; nionette, golden rod, stocks, tangier pea, holly-hock, michaelmas daisy, saffron, and ivy. The dahlia, unless it have been injured by excessive rains, exhibits an abundance of beautiful flowers in this and the succeeding month. If, however, they are trained against walls, the flowers will be superior both in number and magnitude, and there will be a certainty of the seeds ripening. The marvel of Peru is another showy plant at this season, and flowers most vigorously when taken up annually and replanted, like the dahlia. China asters and African marigolds are now leading ornaments, with some Chelones and Phloxes. In the shrubbery this is the season of althea frutex, some late azalias, and china roses; but the grand ornaments are the fruits of the mountain ash and others of the sorbus family, of different varieties of crab, and of oxyacantha. The Tartarian and Moscow crabs are splendid ornaments at this season; the All Saints cherry is also now covered with fruit; those of the arbutus are just beginning to colour, and the blossoms of the scarlet flowering variety to expand. The Guernsey lily, colchicum, saffron crocus, amaryllis lutea, and the tigridia pavenia, are the bulbs of the month. The flowering rush, smallage, and the great burnet saxifrage, are now in flower. The convolvuli, or bind weeds, adorn almost every hedge with their milk-white blossoms. Give me give me the withered leaf, I love thee not, thou simple flow'r, London Magazine. The larva of the privet hawk-moth may now be found on the privet shrub, and its elegant appearance affords a contrast to the uninviting form of many of the caterpillar tribe. See T.T. for 1824, p. 248. The Phalana russula and the saffron butterfly appear in this month. The sulphur butterfly also will frequently be seen in the bright mornings of September, flitting about the gay flowers of our gardens. The appearance of butterflies late in the season, and particularly during the winter months, is often mentioned in the newspapers as an extraordinary Occurrence. But we shall cease to wonder at this circumstance when we become better acquainted with the interesting study of Entomology. There are many insects (it is well observed by the indefatigable MR. SAMOUELLE) that make their appearance in their perfect state late in the autumn, and, for the most part, live through the winter, but in a torpid state; of these, the genus Gonepteryx and Vanessa are peculiar, besides a host of Tortrices, &c.; and it is by no means uncommon to see these beautiful insects flying in the vicinity of woods on fine and mild days during the noonday sun, throughout the winter. We know also, by experience, that many of the rarer specier of insects of this country may be found even in the severest weather in their hybernal retreats, secreted under the bark of trees, clods of earth, in bark, decayed wood, banks, &c. It is also certain that those in the larva state, which live on the roots of plants, decayed wood, &c., retire deeper on the approach of cold and severe frost. It is a fact, and we believe but little known, that the larvæ or caterpillars of many of our most beautiful lepidopterous insects live all the winter; amongst these, many of the Geometra larva, which, from the peculiar mode in which they attach themselves to the sprays of trees, the protuberances with which their bodies are covered, and the uniformity of colour with |