230 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



many parts it is as steep as the roof of any house, and 

 therefore secure from the annoyances of water ; and it is 

 moreover clothed with beechen shrubs, which, being 

 stunted and bitten by sheep, make the thickest covert 

 imaginable ; and are so entangled as to be impervious to 

 the smallest spaniel : besides, it is the nature of under- 

 wood beech never to cast its leaf all the winter ; so that, 

 with the leaves on the ground and those on the twigs, no 

 shelter can be more complete. I watched them on to the 

 thirteenth and fourteenth of October, and found their 

 evening retreat was exact and uniform ; but after this 

 they made no regular appearance. Now and then a 

 straggler was seen ; and on the twenty-second of October, 

 I observed two in the morning over the village, and with 

 them my remarks for the season ended. 



From all these circumstances put together, it is more 

 than probable that this lingering flight, at so late a season 

 of the year, never departed from the island. Had they 

 indulged me that autumn with a November visit, as I much 

 desired, I presume that, with proper assistants, I should 

 have settled the matter past all doubt ; but though the 

 third of November was a sweet day, and in appearance 

 exactly suited to my wishes, yet not a martin was to be 

 seen ; and so I was forced, reluctantly, to give up the 

 pursuit. 



I have only to add that were the bushes, which cover 

 some acres, and are not my own property, to be grubbed 

 and carefully examined, probably those late broods, and 

 perhaps the whole aggregate body of the house-martins of 

 this district, might be found there, in different secret 

 dormitories ; and that, so far from withdrawing into 

 warmer climes, it would appear that they never depart 

 three hundred yards from the village. 



