Grey & sharp. Vast flight of wild-fowl haunt Woollmer-pond: the water in some parts is covered with them. They are probably more numerous on account of the early severity of the weather on the continent.
Mrs Snooke’s tortoise, after it had been buried more than a month, came forth & wandered round the garden in a disconsolate state, not knowing where to fix on a spot for it’s retreat.
The air abounds with insects dancing about over the evergreen trees. They seem to be of the genus tipula, & empis. Phalaenae come out in the evening they seem to be much hardier than the papiliones, appearing in mild weather all the winter through. Full moon.
Dark & mild, spiting rain, great rain. Earth-worms are alert, & throw-up their casts this mild weather.
Almost continual frost from Nov. 20: & some snow frequently falling. Mergus serratus, the Dun-diver, a very rare bird in these parts, was shot in James Knight’s ponds just as it was emerging from the waters with a considerable tench in it’s Mouth. It’s head, & part of the neck, was of a deep rust-colour. On the back part of the head was a considerable crest of the same hue. The sexes in this species, Ray observes, differ so widely, that writers have made two species of them. It appears from Ray’s description that my specimen with the rust-coloured head was a female, called in some parts the sparlin-fowl; & is, he supposes, the female Goosander.
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