272 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 



intelligent^ & so entertaining, as to have merited a better 

 treatment, & not to have been permitted to have lain so long 

 unnoticed ! 



That there is no rule without an exception is an observa- 

 tion that holds good in Nat. History : for tho' you & I have 

 often remarked that Swifts leave us in general by the first 

 week in August: yet I see by my journal of this year, that a 

 relation of mine had under the eaves of his dwelling house in 

 a nest a young squab swift, which the dam attended with great 

 assiduity till September 6th*, & on Octob 1 ' 22, I discovered 

 here at Selborne three young 'martins in a nest, which the 

 dams fed & attended with great affection on to Novem r 1st, 

 a severe frosty day; when they disappeared: & one was found 

 dead in a neighbour's garden. The middle of last Septem 1 ' 

 was a sweet season ! during this lovely weather the congrega- 

 ting flocks of house martins on the Church & tower were very 

 beautiful & amusing ! When they flew off all together from 

 the roof, on any alarm, they quite swarmed in the air. But 

 they soon settled again in heaps on the shingles ; where preen- 

 ing their feathers, & lifting up their wings to admit the rays of 

 the sun, they seemed highly to enjoy the warm situation. Thus 

 did they spend the heat of the day, preparing for their Mi- 

 gration, & as it were consulting when & where they are to 

 go ! The flight about the church consisted chiefly of h. mar- 

 tins, about 400 in number : but there were other places of 

 rendezvous about the village, frequented at the same time. 

 The swallows seem to delight more in holding their assemblies 

 on trees. Such sights as these fill me with enthusiasm ! & 

 make me cry out involuntarily, 



" Amusive birds ! say where your hid retreat, 

 When the frost rages, the tempests beat! " 



We have very great oaks here also on absolute sand. For 

 over Wolmer forest, at Bramshot place where I visit, I meu- 

 sur'd last summer three great hollow oaks, which made a very 



* [Occasional instances are recorded of the retarded departure of the 

 swift, such as that mentioned by Gilbert White in this letter j but they 

 are quite exceptional. See Vol. I. pp. 94, 175, 417. T. B.] 



