52 WHEATEAR. 



certainly shifts places ; for, about harvest, they are 

 not to be found where there was before great plenty 

 of them." This well accounts for the vast quantities 

 that are caught about that time on the south downs 

 near Lewes, where they are esteemed a delicacy. 

 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 a time ; for they are never gregarious. They 

 may perhaps migrate in general; and, for that 

 purpose, draw towards the coast of Sussex in 

 autumn; but that they do not all withdraw I am 

 sure, because I see a few stragglers in many counties, 

 at all times of the year, especially about warrens and 

 stone quarries. 



I 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 the ship 

 all the way from our Channel quite up to the Levant, 

 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 sup- 

 port 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, in- 

 vestigating the natural history of that vast country. 



