Chapter 46

SELBORNE, _June 30th_, 1769.

Dear Sir,--When I was in town last month I partly engaged that I would sometimes do myself the honour to write to you on the subject of natural history; and I am the more ready to fulfil my promise, because I see you are a gentleman of great candour, and one that will make allowances, especially where the writer professes to be an out-door naturalist, one that takes his observations from the subject itself, and not from the writings of others.

THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE SUMMER BIRDS OF PASSAGE WHICH I HAVE DISCOVERED IN THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD, RANGED SOMEWHAT IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEAR:--

RAII NOMINA. USUALLY APPEARS ABOUT 1. Wryneck. _Jynx_, _sive The middle of March: Torquilla_. harsh note. 2. Smallest _Regulus non March 23rd: chirps till willow-wren. cristatus_. September. 3. Swallow. _Hirundo April 13th. domestica_. 4. Martin. _Hirundo rustica_. Ditto. 5. Sand-martin. _Hirundo riparia_. Ditto. 6. Blackcap. _Atricapilla_. Ditto: a sweet, wild note. 7. Nightingale. _Luscinia_. Beginning of April. 8. Cuckoo. _Cuculus_. Middle of April. 9. Middle willow-wren. _Regulus non Ditto: a sweet, cristatus_. plaintive note. 10. Whitethroat. _Ficedulae affinis_ Ditto: mean note; sings on till September. 11. Redstart. _Ruticilla_. Ditto: more agreeable song. 12. Stone-curlew. _OEdicnemus_ End of March: loud nocturnal whistle. 13. Turtle-dove. _Turtur_. 14. Grasshopper-lark. _Alauda minima Middle April: a small locustae voce_ sibilous note, till the end of July. 15. Swift. _Hirundo apus_. About April 27th. 16. Less reed-sparrow. _Passer A sweet polyglot, but arundinaceus hurrying; it has the minor_. notes of many birds. 17. Land-rail. _Ortygometra_. A loud, harsh note--crex, crex. 18. Largest willow _Regulus non _Cantat voce stridula wren. cristatus_. locustae_; end of April, on the tops of high beeches. 19. Goat-sucker, or _Caprimulgus_. Beginning of May: fern-owl. chatters by night with a singular noise. 20. Fly-catcher. _Stoparola_. May 12th: a very mute bird: this is the latest summer bird of passage.

This assemblage of curious and amusing birds belongs to ten several genera of the Linnaean system, and are all of the _ordo_ of _passeres_ save the _Jynx_ and _Cuculus_, which are _picae_, and the _Charadrius_ (_OEdicnemus_) and _Rallus_ (_Ortygometra_), which are _grallae_.

These birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnaean genera:--

1, _Jynx_. 13. _Columba_. 2,6,7,9,10,11,16,18, _Motacilla_. 17. _Rallus_. 3,4,5,15, _Hirundo_. 19. _Caprimulgus_. 8, _Cuculus_. 14. _Alauda_. 12, _Charadrius_. 20. _Muscicapa_.

Most soft-billed birds live on insects, and not on grain and seeds, and therefore at the end of summer they retire: but the following soft-billed birds, though insect-eaters, stay with us the year round:--

RAII NOMINA. Redbreast, Wren, _Rubecula. Passer These frequent houses, troglodytes_. and haunt out-buildings in the winter: eat spiders. Hedge-sparrow, _Curruca_. Haunt sinks for crumbs and other sweepings. White-wagtail, Yellow-wagtail, Grey-wagtail, _Motacilla alba_. These frequent shallow _Motacilla flava_. rivulets near the spring _Motacilla cinerea_. heads, where they never freeze: eat the aureliae of _Phryganea_. The smallest birds that walk. Wheatear, _OEnanthe_. Some of these are to be seen with us the winter through. Whinchat, Stone-chatter, _OEnanthe secunda_. _OEnanthe tertia_. Golden-crowned wren, _Regulus cristatus_. This is the smallest British bird: haunts the tops of tall trees; stays the winter through.

A LIST OF THE WINTER BIRDS OF PASSAGE ROUND THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD, RANGED SOMEWHAT IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEAR.

RAII NOMINA. 1. Ring-ousel, _Merula torquata_. This is a new migration, which I have lately discovered about Michaelmas week, and again about the 14th March. 2. Redwing, _Turdus iliacus_. About old Michaelmas. 3. Fieldfare, _Turdus pilaris_. Though a percher by day, roosts on the ground. 4. Royston-crow, _Cornix cinerea_. Most frequent on downs. 5. Woodcock, _Scolopax_. Appears about old Michaelmas. 6. Snipe, _Gallinago minor_. Some snipes constantly breed with us. 7. Jack-snipe, _Gallinago minima_. 8. Wood-pigeon, _OEnas_. Seldom appears till late; not in such plenty as formerly. 9. Wild-swan, _Cygnus ferus_. On some large waters. 10. Wild-goose, _Anser ferus_. ) 11. Wild-duck, _Anas torquata ) minor_. 12. Pochard, _Anas fera fusca_. ) 13. Wigeon, _Penelope_. ) On our lakes and streams. 14. Teal, breeds with _Querquedula_. ) us in Wolmer Forest, 15. Gross-beak, _Coccothraustes_. ) These are only wanderers that 16. Cross-bill, _Loxia_. ) appear occasionally, and are not 17. Silk-tail, _Garrulus ) observant of any bohemicus_. regular migration.

The birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnaean genera:--

1,2,3, Turdus. 9,10,11,12,13,14, Anas. 4, Corvus. 15,16, Loxia. 5,6,7, Scolopax. 17, Ampelis. 8, Columba.

Birds that sing in the night are but few.

Nightingale, _Luscinia_. "In shadiest covert hid." MILTON. Woodlark, _Alauda arborea_. Suspended in mid air. Less reed-sparrow, _Passer arundinaceus Among reeds and willows. minor_.

I should now proceed to such birds as continue to sing after Midsummer, but, as they are rather numerous, they would exceed the bounds of this paper: besides, as this is now the season for remarking on that subject, I am willing to repeat my observations on some birds concerning the continuation of whose song I seem at present to have some doubt.

I am, etc.