MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 199 



birds have been known sometimes to build in rooks' 

 nests, and sometimes in the forks of boughs under 

 rooks 5 nests. 



As my neighbour was housing a rick, he observed 

 that his dogs devoured all the little red mice that 

 they could catch, but rejected the common mice ; 

 and that his cats eat the common mice, refusing the 

 red. 



Red-breasts sing all through the spring, summer, 

 and autumn. The reason that they are called autumn 

 songsters is, because in the two first seasons their 

 voices are lost and drowned in the general chorus : 

 in the latter, their song becomes distinguishable. 

 Many songsters of the autumn seem to be the young 

 cock red-breast of that year: notwithstanding the 

 prejudices in their favour, they do much mischief in 

 gardens to the summer fruits *. 



The tit-mouse, which early in February begins to 

 make two quaint notes, like the whetting of a saw t, 

 is the marsh tit-mouse ; the great tit- mouse sings 

 with three cheerful joyous notes, and begins about 

 the same time. 



Wrens sing all the winter through, frost excepted. 



House-martins came remarkably late this year, 

 both in Hampshire and Devonshire : is this circum- 

 stance for or against either hiding or migration ? 



Most birds drink sipping at intervals ; but pigeons 

 take a long continued draught, like quadrupeds. 



Notwithstanding what I have said in a former 

 letter, no grey crows were ever known to breed on 

 Dartmoor ; it was my mistake. 



The appearance and flying of the scarab&us sol- 



* They eat also the berries of the ivy, the honeysuckle, and 

 the euonymus europteus, or spindle-tree. 



f It is undoubtedly the great titmouse, p. major, which whets 

 like a saw. I have watched it for a quarter of an hour together ; 

 it has also cheerful notes. W. J. 



