The following signs of rain were given by Dr. Jenner,[14] in 1810, to a lady, in reply to her inquiry whether it would rain on the morrow:— The hollow winds begin to blow, The clouds look black, the glass is low; The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep, And spiders from their cobwebs creep; Last night the sun went pale to bed, The moon in halos hid her head; The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, For see, a rainbow spans the sky; The walls are damp, the ditches smell, Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel; The squalid toads at dusk were seen Slowly crawling o’er the green; Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry, The distant hills are looking nigh; Hark, how the chairs and tables crack! Old Betty’s joints are on the rack; And see yon rooks, how odd their flight, They imitate the gliding kite, Or seem precipitate to fall As if they felt the piercing ball; How restless are the snorting swine! The busy flies disturb the kine; Low o’er the grass the swallow wings; The cricket too, how loud she sings! Puss on the hearth, with velvet paws, Sits wiping o’er her whiskered jaws:— ’Twill surely rain, I see, with sorrow: Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow. Footnote 14: Versified by Darwin. The following is taken from _The Shepherd’s Calendar_, 1683: _Signs of Rain, from Birds._—Sea and fresh-water fowls, such as cormorants, sea-gulls, moor-hens, &c. flying from sea or the fresh waters to land, show bad weather at hand; land fowls flying to waters, and those shaking, washing, and noisy, especially in the evening, denote the same; geese, ducks, coots, &c. picking, shaking, washing, and noisy; rooks and crows in flocks and suddenly disappearing; pyes and jays in flocks and very noisy; the raven or hooded-crow crying in the morning, with an interruption in its notes, or crows being very clamorous at evening; the heron, bittern, and swallow flying low; birds forsaking their food and flying to their nests; poultry going to rest or pigeons to their dove-house; tame fowls grubbing in the dust and clapping their wings; small birds seeming to duck and wash in the sand; the late and early crowing of the cock, and clapping his wings; the early singing of woodlarks; the early chirping of sparrows; the early note of the chaffinch near houses; the dull appearance of robin-redbreast near houses; peacocks and owls unusually clamorous.