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THIS month is named from the Latin word septem, seven, being the seventh month in the old calendar. Some think that the ending of the name (ember, or imber, meaning a shower,) shews that the wet season begins in this month. The Saxons called it Gerst-monath, or barley-month, because it was their time for barley-harvest.

The 29th of September is called Michaelmas-day, from the festival of St. Michael and All Angels. It is one of the chief days for hiring farm-servants, and for rent and other payments. From the custom of giving those who came to pay rent to their landlord a fat goose for dinner, has arisen

a general practice of having this dish for dinner on Michaelmas-day.

This is often a pleasant month, the weather being soft and mild till towards the end of the month, when much wind may be expected. Partridges are in season now, and the shooting begins on the 1st of September. The swallow, fern-owl, ring-dottrel, blackcap, whitethroats, warblers, shrikes, fly-catchers, wagtails, terns, and wheatears disappear; and the curlew, ring-ouzel, snipes, field fares, and redwings arrive. The nuthatch visits our orchards; woodcocks seek for insects in old trees; and flocks of birds, such as sparrows, linnets, and larks, may be seen flying from field to field. The wood-owl hoots and shouts; and the blackbird, wood-lark, thrush, and redbreast are our chief songsters. Among the insects that appear in this month are the saffron and clouded-yellow butterflies, the death's-head hawk-moth, and convolvulus hawk-moth, ladybirds, flies, crickets, beetles, spiders, and glow-worms. The snake casts its skin. Herrings are seen off the eastern and western coasts of England, where they come to spawn; and perch and dace are in season.

The farmer ploughs, and sows wheat upon his fallows, finishes his hop and saffron harvests, and gathers in orchardfruits for sale and cider-making; and the gardener removes decayed plants, digs, gathers seeds, and sows and plants for the next year.

Hazlenuts, walnuts, filberts, and chestnuts are gathered; and elder-berries are ripe, and fit for making excellent wine. Acorns and beech-masts fall; and squirrels, field-mice,

dormice, &c. lay up their winter-stores of food. Towards the end of September the leaves of trees begin to turn; those of the willow to a lightish grey,—of the ash, maple, and hazle, to a pale yellow,-of the beech and cherry to red, of the elm and hornbeam to a bright yellow,-of limes to a soft rich orange, and of the plane, hawthorn, and oak, to a pale yellowish-green colour. Mints, wormwood, ivy, groundsel, plantain, mallows, and the clematis are in bloom; and blackberry bushes are covered with buds, flowers, and green and ripe fruits. In our gardens, lilies, snow-flakes, dahlias, asters, and chrysanthemums, &c. are still in bloom; and the autumnal crocus flowers.

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OCTOBER takes its name from octo, eight. It was called Domitianus in the time of Domitian; but altered, by a decree of the senate, at his death. The Saxons called it Wyn-monath, or wine-month, because it was the month in which they pressed grapes and made their wine.

The last night in October is the eve of All-Saints' day, or All-Hallows eve; and used to be celebrated with rude sports and games, diving for apples, throwing nuts into the fire, &c.

The stormy weather, common towards the end of September, often passes away, and the beginning of October

is mild; but the mornings and evenings are chilly and foggy, and hoar-frosts common.

The hobby, land and water-rails, redstart, redshank, common sandpiper, and short-eared owl, take their departure; and the merlin, hooded crow, woodcock, Dartford warbler, and guillemot arrive; and flocks of water-fowl appear in low marshy grounds, and are caught in decoys, &c. About the middle of the month wild-geese leave the fens, and go to the rye-lands to devour the young corn. Rooks sport and congregate in numbers before they go to roost; and starlings assemble in the fen-countries, and may be seen perching on the reeds. On the first of October pheasantshooting begins, and fox-hunting towards the end of the month. All fresh-water fish are in season. The ground is often covered with spiders' webs, but scarcely any insects are to be seen. Galls are produced by the eggs of the ichneumon-fly on oaks, willows, hawthorns, and roses, about this time. Bees are now generally robbed of their honey, by burning brimstone in the hive, which stupifies them. The farmer ploughs, sows wheat, beans, and acorns, and plants and fells timber-trees. The gardener gathers potatoes, carrots, beetroot, and Swedish turnips; and plants fruit-trees and bulbs, removes decayed leaves and plants, and takes in others in pots for shelter. October is the chief month for the vintage and brewing. The leaves of trees begin now to fade quickly and to fall off. The walnut, mulberry, horse-chestnut, sycamore, lime, and ash trees, lose their leaves first; then follow the elm, beech, and oak. The hedges are enlivened with berries; and the scarlet hips on the wild rose, the haws on the hawthorn,

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