MIGRATION. 143 



crossing the Mediterranean; for, when arrived at 

 Gibraltar, they do not, 



" Ranged in figure, wedge their way, 



- and set forth 



Their airy caravan, high over seas 



Flying, and over lands with mutual wing 



Easing their flight ;" MILTON. 



but scout and hurry along in little detached parties 

 of six or seven in a company ; and, sweeping low, 

 just over the surface of the land and water, direct 

 their course to the opposite continent at the narrow- 

 est passage they can find. They usually slope across 

 the bay to the south-west, and so pass over opposite 

 to Tangier, which, it seems, is the narrowest space. 



In former letters, we have considered, whether it 

 was probable that woodcocks, in moonshiny nights, 

 cross the German Ocean from Scandinavia. As a 

 proof that birds of less speed may pass that sea, 

 considerable as it is, I shall relate the following inci- 

 dent, which, though mentioned to have happened so 

 many years ago, was strictly matter of fact: As 

 some people were shooting in the parish of Trotten, 

 in the county of Sussex, they killed a duck in that 

 dreadful winter, 1708-9, with a silver collar about 

 its neck,* on which were engraven the arms of the 

 King of Denmark. This anecdote the rector of 

 Trotten at that time has often told to a near relation 

 of mine, and to the best of my remembrance, the 

 collar was in the possession of the rector. 



At present, I do not know any body near the sea- 

 side that will take the trouble to remark at what 

 time of the moon woodcocks first come : if I lived 

 near the sea myself, I would soon tell you more of 

 the matter. One thing I used to observe when I 



* I have read a like anecdote of a swan. 



