58 NATURAL HISTORY 
ty of them.” This will account for the vast quan.® 
tities that are caught about that time on the South 
Downs near Lewes, where they are esteemed a del- 
icacy. There have been shepherds, I have been 
credibly informed, that have made many pounds in 
a season by catching them in traps. And, though 
such multitudes are taken, I never saw (and I am 
well acquainted with those parts) above two or 
three at atime; for they are never gregarious. 
They may, perhaps, migrate in general, and for 
that purpose draw towards the cost of Sussex in 
autumn ; but that they do not all withdraw I am 
sure, because I see a few stragglers in many coun- 
ties at all times of the year, especially about war- 
rens and stone-quarries. 
_ [have no acquaintance at present among the 
gentlemen of the navy, but have written to a friend, 
who was a sea-chaplain in the late war, desiring 
him to look into his minutes with respect to birds 
that settled on their rigging during their voyage up 
or down the Channel. What Hasselquist says on 
that subject is remarkable: there were little short- 
winged birds frequently coming on board his ship 
all the way from our Channel quite up to the Le- 
vant, especially before squally weather. 
What you suggest with regard to Spain is highly 
probable. ‘The winters of Andalusia are so mild, 
that, in all likelihood, the soft-billed birds that leave 
us at that season may find insects sufficient to 
support them there. 
Some young man, possessed of fortune, health, 
and leisure, should make*an autumnal voyage into 
that kingdom, and should spend a year there, inves- 
tigating the natural history of that vast country. 
