XII!.] 



OF SELBORNE. 



43 



((Knantlic) does not quit England, it certainly shifts places ; for 

 about harvest they are not to be found, where there was before 

 great plenty of them." This well accounts for the vast quan- 

 tities that are caught about that time on the South downs near 

 Lewes, where they are esteemed a delicacy. There have been 

 shepherds, I have been credibly informed, that have made many 

 pounds in a season by catching them in traps. And though 

 such multitudes are taken, I never saw (and I am well acquainted 



THE WHEATKAK. 



with those parts) above two or three at a time : for they are 

 never gregarious. They may perhaps migrate in general ; and, 

 for that purpose, draw towards the coast of Sussex in autumn : 

 but that they do not all withdraw I am sure : because 1 see a 

 few stragglers in many counties, at all times of the year, espe- 

 cially about warrens and stone-quarries. 



I have no acquaintance, at present, among the gentlemen of 

 the navy: but have written to a friend, who was a sea-chaplain 

 in the late war, desiring him to look into his minutes, with 



