104 NATURAL HISTORY 
Please to let me hear if my female moose corre- 
sponds with that which you saw, and whether you 
think still that the American moose and European 
elk are the same creature. 
LETTER XXIxX. 
Selborne, May 12, 1770. 
Dear Sir,—Last month [April] we had such a 
series of cold, turbulent weather, such a constant 
succession of frost and snow, and hail and tempest, 
that the regular migration or appearance of the 
summer birds was much interrupted. Some did 
not show themselves (at least were not heatd) till 
weeks after their usual time, as. the blackcap and 
whitethroat ; and some have not been heard yet, as 
the grasshopper-lark and largest willow-wren. As 
to the fly-catcher, I have not seen it ; it is, indeed, 
one of the latest, but should appear about this time ; 
and yet, amid all this meteorous strife and war of 
the elements, two swallows discovered themselves 
so long ago as the eleventh of April, in frost and 
snow ; but they withdrew quickly, and were not 
visible again for many days. House-martins, which 
are always more backward than swallows, were not 
observed till May came in. 
Among the monogamous birds, several are to be 
found, after pairing time, single ; but whether this 
state of solitude is matter of choice or necessity, is 
not so easily discoverable. When the house-spar- 
rows deprive my martins of their nests, as soon as 
I cause one to be shot, the other, be it cock or hen, 
presently procures a mate, and so for several times 
following. 
