MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 171 



LETTER LIV. 



TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQ. 



SELBORNE, November 9, 1773. 

 DEAR SIR, 



As you desire me to send you such observations 

 as may occur, I take the liberty of making the fol- 

 lowing remarks, that you may, according as you 

 think me right or wrong, admit or reject what I here 

 advance, in your intended new edition of the British 

 Zoology. 



The osprey* was shot about a year ago at Frin- 

 sham Pond, a great lake, at about six miles from 

 hence, while it was sitting on the handle of a plough 

 and devouring a fish; it used to precipitate itself into 

 the water, and so take its prey by surprise. 



A great ash- coloured f butcher-bird was shot last 

 winter in Tisted Park, and a red-backed butcher- 

 bird at Selborne. They are scarce birds in this 

 country. 



Crows J go in pairs the whole year round. 



Cornish choughs abound, and breed on Beechy 

 Head, and on all the cliffs of the Sussex coast || . 



The common wild pigeon ^f, or stock- dove, is a 

 bird of passage in the south of England, seldom 

 appearing till towards the end of November, is 



* British Zoology, vol. i. p. 128. f P. 161. 



t P. 167. P. 198. 



|j Cornish choughs abound in the Isle of Man, and breed 



there. They are also found on the Galloway and Kirkcud- 

 bright coasts. W. J. 



f British Zoology, vol. i. p. 216. 



