190 SWALLOWS. 



another bird of the same species built its nest on the 

 wings and body of an owl, that happened by accident 

 to hang dead and dry from the rafter of a barn. 

 This owl, with the nest on its wings, and with eggs 

 in the nest, was brought as a curiosity worthy the 

 most elegant private museum in Great Britain. The 

 owner, struck with the oddity of the sight, furnished 

 the bringer with a large shell, or conch, desiring him 

 to fix it just where the owl hung. The person did 

 as he was ordered ; and the following year, a pair, 

 probably the same pair, built their nest in the conch, 

 and laid their eggs. 



The owl and the conch make a strange, grotesque 

 appearance, and are not the least curious specimens 

 in that wonderful collection of art and nature *. 



Thus is instinct in animals, taken the least out of 

 its way, an undistinguishing, limited faculty, and 

 blind to every circumstance that does not immediately 

 respect self-preservation, or lead at once to the pro- 

 pagation or support of their species. 



LETTER LVIII. 



TO THE SAME. 



SELBORNE, Feb. 14, 1774. 

 DEAR SIR, 



I RECEIVED your favour of the eighth, and am 

 pleased to find that you read my little history of the 

 swallow with your usual candour ; nor was I the less 

 pleased to find that you made objections where you 

 saw reason. 



* Sir Ashton Lever's Museum. 



