OF SELBORNE. 111 
LETTER XXXIII. 
Selborne, Nov. 26, 1770. 
Dear Sir,—I was much pleased to see, among 
the collection of birds from Gibraltar, some of those 
short-winged English summer birds of passage, con- 
cerning whose departure we have made so much 
inquiry. Now, if these birds are found in Anda- 
lusia to migrate to and from Barbary, it may easily 
be supposed that those that come to us may migrate 
back to the Continent, and spend their winters in 
some of the warmer parts of Europe. This is cer- 
. tain, that many soft-billed birds that come to Gib- 
raltar appear there only in spring and autumn, seem- 
ing t6 advance in pairs towards the northward du- 
ring the summer months, and retiring in parties and 
broods towards the south at the decline of the year ; 
so that the rock of Gibraltar is the great rendezvous 
and place of observation, from whence they take 
their departure each way towards Europe or Africa. 
It is therefore no mean discovery, I think, to find 
that our small short-winged summer birds of pas- 
sage are to be seen, spring and autumn, on the very 
skirts of Europe; it is a presumptive proof of their 
emigrations. 
Scopoli seems to me to have found the hirundo 
melba, the great Gibraltar swift, in Tyrol, without 
knowing it. For what is his hirundo alpina but the 
afore-mentioned bird in other words? Says he, 
“ Omnia prioris (meaning the swift), sed pectus al- 
bum ; paulo major priore.”* Ido not suppose this 
* It is in all things like the former bird (the swift) except that 
it has a white breast; it is a little larger than the former one. 
